The Test of Strength
by RekkaKouyuu
Summary: RYO TORTURE! A new enemy is after the Armor of Inferno, and its bearer. Sage and the others must do everything they can to protect Ryo and defeat this new foe. But will it be enough?
1. Home, Plans, and Surprises

DISCLAIMER: Nope. Not me. However, I DO own the three bad guys. THEY ARE MINE!

AUTHOR NOTE 1: This fic can be taken one of two ways: as STRONG FRIENDSHIP fic a Shounen ai fic between Sage and Ryo. Also there will also be loads of torture—mental and physical—and I recommend for those of you who have weak stomachs to LEAVE now. I'm not shy to blood and gore. And I don't want you to flame me for the later parts because they did not know about this stuff. For those of you who actually do enjoy torturing someone—mainly Ryo—enjoy.

AUTHOR NOTE 2: For those of you who don't know, RYO'S DAD IS STILL ALIVE! He NEVER died. Most information websites are WRONG. Most people just like the thought of Ryo being an orphan; it opens the door to so many different possibilities. I like the idea too, but it doesn't fit with how nobody, not even an orphanage, picked Ryo up; because if his dad did die, do you honestly think he would still live in a cabin, in the woods, and walk to school? It doesn't fit, so I had to go back and _change_ my entire story because some parts just didn't make sense due to the fact that I did all the things said above.

AUTHOR NOTE 3: xyxyxyxy: beginning and ending of Story, stststst: Scene Breaks, xlxlxlxl and lxlxlxlx: beginning and ending of Flashbacks, zozozozo and ozozozoz: beginning and ending of Visions, and kjkjkjkj and jkjkjkjk: beginning and ending of Dreams. These "…" are for speaking, and these '…' are for thoughts. I DO NOT LIKE HAVING TO CHANGE MY SYMBOLS, BUT FFN WON'T SHOW THEM. SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME.

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 1: Home, Plans, and Surprises

The war with Talpa was finally over. The city was once again back to its original state. The Warlord's had returned to the Nether Realm to undo the damage that had been done to it. The Ronin Warriors, also decided to return to their homes. Then after a week with their families they would meet back at Mia's mansion…

stststst

Kento Rei Fuan entered a two-story Chinese restaurant. The second floor was where his family lived and the first was the actual restaurant. Kento went to the back door and walked up the stairs to their living area. Once inside, he sat his stuff down and looked around. He heard voices from almost everywhere in the house. He walked into the kitchen to find his mother putting away clean dishes. His baby sister, Chan Fa, was sitting in a high chair watching their mother.

"When's dinner?"

Mrs. Rei Fuan whirled around, dropping the plate she was holding onto the floor. Luckily, it didn't break.

"Keento!" Chan Fa exclaimed and stretched her arms out for him to pick her up. He did, and gave her a huge hug.

His mother left the plate and joined her children. "It's about time you returned home. How was your trip?" she asked.

"It was quite an experience," Kento laughed.

Everyone heard the plate fall and ran to the kitchen to see what was wrong. "Kento!" his siblings, Rinfi, Yun, and Mei Ryu, exclaimed as they ran to hug him. Kento handed Chan Fa to his mother and hugged his other sister and brothers. Then he hugged his father and granddad.

When he pulled away he looked back at his mother. "I'm starving. When's dinner?"

stststst

Sai Mouri entered the apartment quietly. He didn't want his mother to know he was home yet, hoping to surprise her. His home was only a few blocks from Kento's, so he had ridden with his friend in the cab. He heard the television in the living room, and peeked around the corner to see if she was there. His mother and older sister, Sayoko, were on the couch watching some nature special. Sai leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Both women jumped and jerked their heads towards his direction.

"Sai!" his mother shouted and stood. They walked to meet each other and embraced. Sayoko rose from the couch and waited for her turn to hug him. After they all hugged and greeted each other, they sat on the couch with Sai in the middle.

"So how did it go?" Sayoko asked.

"It was kinda rough, but we had fun," Sai replied. He knew their families didn't know about their armors. They didn't even remember the war that took place in the city. Nobody did. So he couldn't really say too much.

"Did Kento spend the whole time eating?" his mother joked.

"Most of it!"

stststst

Sage Date entered his families' dojo. He walked through the door that led to his house. He went up stairs to his room and put his things away. Then he went into the hall and stopped in front of a mirror to check his hair. 'Perfect,' he thought.

"It's about time you got home, Sage," a voice said behind him.

Sage turned on his heels to face the person who spoke. It was his older sister, Yayoi. She walked up to him, slug an arm over his shoulder, and guided him into the living room. His whole family was reading quietly in different areas of the room. His mother looked up when they came through the door.

"Sage!" she exclaimed and ran to hug her son. Satsuki, his younger sister, wasn't far behind. Both females clung to him, squeezing out all the air he had in his body. His father was the next in line, but his embrace wasn't as life threatening as the two women's had been. His grandfather remained sitting in his chair. He waited until Sage approach him and bowed before he stood to hug the young man.

"So what happened?" his father asked.

Sage turned to face him, gave a thoughtful smile, and replied, "Everything."

stststst

Rowen Hashiba unlocked the door to his apartment. He knew his father would be at the University, like he always was. He heard some noise from the kitchen and decided to investigate. His hopes grew, thinking it was his father, but then they were overwhelmed when he saw his mother cooking at the stove. "Mom!" he exclaimed. Even though his parents were divorced his mother continued to stay with them when she was in town. It wasn't very often but Rowen enjoyed her company.

His mother jumped and whirled around, still holding a spatula in her right hand. Once she saw Rowen her whole body relaxed. "Rowen!" she exclaimed and ran to give him a hug.

"When did ya get he'ah?" they both asked in unison. They looked at each other, laughed, and hugged each other again.

His mother went back to cooking while Rowen sat at the table.

"I got back early this morning," she said while setting a plate of food in front of Rowen and one down for herself. She didn't have his accent due to her traveling so much.

"Ah got back a few minutes ago," Rowen replied.

"Genichirou told me a few weeks ago that you went on a trip with three friends." It was more a question than a statement.

"Act'lly, fo'ah. We met Ryo in Toyoma befo'ah we really got started," Rowen corrected her.

"Ryo? Isn't he the boy whose dad is always gone and lives in that cabin?"

"Yeah. That's 'im." Rowen's mind automatically went into worry mode. 'Ryo's all alone and isolated. Ah should've asked 'im t' come home wif me,' he thought. 'Nah. He would've insisted that Ah try t' spen' time wif m' dad. Besides, Whiteblaze is wif 'im. Ryo's a big boy. He can handle 'imself. And Talpa's gone. So is the Dynasty._'_ Rowen dismissed his thoughts and continued to talk to his mother. "So, how was ya'ah last assignment?" he asked changing the subject.

stststst

In the airport stood one teenage female with long red hair that went passed her waist, and one teenage male with raven black hair that went to his mid-shoulder blade. The two stood in comfortable silence, waiting for the call to board the plane. Mia hadn't wanted to stand by herself, so she had asked Ryo to accompany her. She had planned to go back to France to visit her parents and pick up more things for the mansion.

Ryo wasn't in a hurry to get home like everyone else had been. He knew his father wasn't there. The man hardly ever came home anymore since Ryo was old enough to look after himself. He preferred to write a letter every month promising he was coming home and apologize for not making the previous date he had set. Ryo hadn't seen his father in three years. Ryo talked to him once a week on the phone when his father called to check up on him and to hear about school. The call was always less than thirty minutes, and the letters where usually one to two pages. Ryo understood that his father loved his work, and had to work to keep up the income, but he missed _seeing_ his father. Letters and phone calls weren't enough. Since Ryo's mother died when he was four, he'd learned to depend on himself, for he hardly ever seen his father, but it was more frequent than now. At least then he saw the man every other month or less. His father never stayed home more than five days, though.

Mia was glad that Ryo decided to come with her. For some reason, he was more comfortable to be around then any of the other boys. If Rowen had been here he would have been so engrossed in a book that he would have made a fool of himself by running into things or people. Sage would have gone to talk to other girls and left Mia by herself anyway. Sai would have made useless small talk and try to carry out a conversation if neither of them had a single thing to say. And Kento…Well, Kento would have run to the snack bar, ordered tons of food, then proceed to shove it down his throat. Ryo was different. Just him being there was relaxing. No one had to say anything because it might break the serenity of the moment.

She knew very little about Ryo, though, compared to the others. Mia knew that his mother had died when he was young, his father was a wildlife photographer, and that Whiteblaze had come to live with him when he was ten. By the way the two acted, she would have thought that the boy and tiger had been together forever. Mia also knew that Ryo had to walk nine miles to get to school; and that he was active in sports. He loved soccer the most and was very good at it. He was also a loner even though he could adapt to being around others. He had a really bad temper when he was really upset by something. One moment he would be fine, but the next he could just explode.

Mia glanced over at the boy standing next to her. Ryo was looking out the window. His facial expression showed that he was in deep thought. His tiger blue eyes revealed that what ever it was, it was sad. His face was always an open book for anyone to read. Unlike Sage, Ryo couldn't hide what he was feeling. If he was upset, everyone knew it. They just respected his wishes to leave him alone until he decided he was ready to tell them what it was. But Mia wouldn't be herself if she didn't try.

"You okay, Ryo?"

Ryo came out of his thoughts about going back to the cabin. He stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. You?"

Mia smiled. "Of course. I love plane rides. They're really exciting."

Ryo just gave her a weak smile in return. He liked flying too. Probably not as much as Rowen, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

Mia dropped her smile and said seriously, "Are you sure you'll be okay. I mean, you could come with me to France."

Ryo gently shook his head. "It's okay Mia. I'll be fine. Besides, my dad might call and I don't want to miss it. You guys should have time alone with your families, anyway. I don't want to impose on anyone."

Aside from his father and Whiteblaze, Ryo felt that the other Ronins, Mia, and Yuli were his family. They were like his very own brothers and sister. The guys more so then Mia or Yuli, but that was to be expected. He had a bond with them due to the armors.

Even though he wanted to be with them and not be left alone, Ryo realized he was being selfish. They had families to go home to. He didn't resent that; he just didn't like the feeling of loneliness returning after he got use to being with the guys. And when they came into the picture, he had to admit that there was never a dull moment. They were so different that they just seemed to fit together in a way that no one could explain.

He hated being a burden to anyone. He also hated it when others worried about him. Ryo wasn't use to it, aside from Whiteblaze. He would have died a long time ago if it hadn't been for the tiger. He would have died at the age of four, right after his mother had died and he went out into the woods alone and got lost. And even if Blaze hadn't stayed with him then, Ryo always felt that the tiger was watching over him. He would give anything in his power for the tiger.

When Ryo thought Whiteblaze had died for all eternity he almost fell apart. He wanted to run the Soul Sword through himself; just to stop the pain in his heart. Then Whiteblaze came back to life, which was confusing, but Ryo didn't care. His best friend was back and that was all that mattered.

It was that feeling Ryo dreaded more than anything. He loved Blaze so much. Then because he caused the tiger to get hurt, his friend had died. He had lost part of his family that way; and because of him, or the fact that he couldn't help, they had died. And Ryo didn't want to go through that pain again. He didn't want to add another name to the list. He was hesitant for them to get too close, yet he didn't want to be alone any longer either. Ryo was confused but pushed it aside for other things.

He only had to survive a week, then they would all be together again. And the feelings of loneliness and helplessness would vanish.

"Don't worry about me, Mia. I've been on my own before. Besides, Blaze will be with me. So stop worrying. Just relax and have fun," he insisted cheerfully.

"Okay, but if you need anything go to one of the guys. Please," she begged.

"Your plane's here," he said and nodded.

A person came over the intercom and called for the passengers to get ready for boarding. Mia turned and looked at Ryo who quietly stood by her side. "I'll miss you, Ryo," she said as she took him in an embrace.

Ryo was shocked momentarily, but quickly recovered and returned the hug. "I'll miss you, too."

"See you in a week?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Of course."

Mia turned and headed for her entrance ramp. She turned and waved goodbye as she entered. Ryo watched the plane take off, then lingered for a bit longer. He got into a cab and went back to Mia's to get Whiteblaze.

"Hey boy," Ryo said as he exited the vehicle and paid the driver. "You ready to go?"

Whiteblaze gave the closest thing to a purr the large feline could manage as he rubbed up against his charge's legs. The raven haired boy climbed onto his back and stroked his head.

"Then let's go home." And with that the tiger took off towards their home deep within the forest.

stststst

Their week was almost over before they knew it. They had one day left to go before they got together at Mia's. Kento was at the restaurant cleaning tables when Sai entered. The British boy smiled and approached his best friend.

"Hey, Kento," he replied cheerfully. "Having fun?"

Kento glared at him before returning the smile. "Hey, Sai. And no. My mom's been making me clean tables and wash dishes all week."

"Well, I've been helping my mom and sister at the pottery shop all week. So don't feel too bad, my friend."

"Yeah, but you don't have to clean up food that people drop on the floor or sneeze all over the tables," Kento replied with an edge. "Such a waste…"

"Good point," Sai agreed. Then he grabbed an apron and a few rags from behind the counter. He walked back over to Kento who just smiled and shook his head. The two went to work on cleaning the tables people weren't seated at.

stststst

Rowen sat quietly in the park, reading a book, and waiting for Sage to show up. The blond had called earlier and they decided to meet in the park for a game of chess. Ironically, it was Sage who had challenged the blue headed boy to the match. At first Rowen was shocked, but then agreed.

So here he was. Sitting in the park all by himself. But hey, he was used to it; besides, he had a book to keep him occupied.

"Don't you ever get tired of filling your head with information?" a voice asked from behind him.

Rowen knew who it was. "Don' ya ev'ah get tired of fixin' you'ah hair?"

"Good one," Sage said as he sat down across from the other boy. "And no, I don't."

"I figured as much," Rowen smiled. "Ready?"

stststst

Ryo had called the guys a few times over the week, but his loneliness had finally gotten the best of him. He wanted to check up on the others. So he got up and left Whiteblaze to lounge around outside for a few hours.

Ryo spent the whole trip into town thinking about his friends, the battles with the Dynasty, and recent nightmares that plagued his sleep. He couldn't really make anything out of them, but something didn't feel right. And he didn't want the others to worry if there was nothing to worry about. He just wanted to make sure they were safe.

He decided to check on Kento, who was probably at the restaurant, first. If he wasn't there, he would probably be with Sai. Ryo walked up to the front window and looked in. He smiled at the scene before him. Sai was helping Kento wash tables. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but Sai suddenly threw one of his rags at Kento; hitting him square in the face. The next thing Ryo knew, Kento was chasing Sai around all the tables. The few customers the restaurant had only laughed at the two.

Kento was gaining on the smaller boy, and Sai knew it. He ducked under a table to avoid the other. Kento jumped up on the table, which was unfortunately, one of the ones the two boys had washed. Kento slipped and slid into Sai who had just stood up; only to fall back to the floor with Kento sitting on him. They both burst out laughing, stood up as best they could, calmed down, then went back to work.

Ryo smiled and shook his head. 'No matter what happens those two will always find a way to have a good time,' he thought to himself. He resumed his walk, only this time heading for the dojo Sage's family owned, feeling good knowing that half of his team was okay.

He stopped in front of the dojo but didn't see Sage inside practicing. His heart felt a slight pinch. 'Where could he be?_'_

Ryo continued to look for his friend, letting his instincts guide him. When he came to the park, he went in and looked around for Sage. It didn't take long before he spotted the blond, who was with Rowen playing a game of chess. It was Sage's turn, but a girl with long black hair walked by and caught his eye. He followed her as she passed and starred as she continued to walk.

"Sage? Sage. Earth t' Sage Date!" Rowen shouted. "Come back, Sage!"

"Wh-What?" Sage asked as he turned back to Rowen. "You say something, Ro?"

"It's ya'ah move."

"I know. I was concentrating."

"Yeah, Ah know what ya we'ah 'concentratin'' on," Rowen laughed.

Sage blushed, then joined Rowen.

Again, Ryo shook his head and smiled. He left without saying a word to either of them. That was the whole point in this trip. To see them, but not the other way around. Ryo continued his walk to Yuli's. 'Might as well see what the little guys up to,' he thought. He stopped in front of the boy's house and saw Yuli sitting on the couch with a Game Boy in his hands. He heard the boy's mother call for him, and watched as Yuli paused his game and ran out of the room.

Suddenly, a memory of his mother flooded his mind.

xlxlxlxl

"Ryo-san!" she called from the kitchen.

A chibi-Ryo ran into the room. "Hai, Mama?" he asked.

"Mama made cookies. Do you want one?"

Chibi-Ryo's eyes grew twice as large with excitement and both of his hands shout up with his finger stretched out. "Please!"

"Alright, but first…" she began. Ryo knew she was going to test his knowledge. She always did. And he always let her. "What is one plus two plus twelve?"

Chibi-Ryo thought for a minute. Actually, it seemed longer than a minute, but his mother was very patient. She watched as he tried to count on his fingers. From what she could see, she had no clue what he was doing; but since he was a three year old, who could?

"Fifteen," Chibi-Ryo answered.

His mother slowly shook her head and frowned. Chibi-Ryo got the impression he was wrong so he lowered his head in shame.

"I just don't know how you do it," she said. When her son looked up she smiled. "You're pretty smart for a three year old."

He took the cookie and smile mischievously.

"What?" his mother asked.

"You asked me that last time. I got it wrong and you told me the answer."

His mother had forgotten that. She hated to ask him the same question in a row. The look in her eye told the small boy to run; so he did. He ran out the door, but his mother grabbed him and began to tickle him. He squirmed and laughed uncontrollably.

lxlxlxlx

Ryo snapped back into the present and decided to make his way home. It would be late by the time he got there anyway. And he didn't want to worry Whiteblaze.

On his way back, he thought that he should go and visit his mother. He had been avoiding it all week. He usually only made the trip on the day she died, sometimes on her birthday. Aside from that, he rarely went up the mountain. But now he felt that he needed to go. So tomorrow, before he had to be at Mia's, Ryo would go visit his mother.

stststst

Ryo's fist slammed down on his alarm clock at four-thirty in the morning. Releasing a soft groan, he turned over onto his stomach and stuck his head under his pillow. He pulled the covers closer and tried to catch a few more precious minutes of sleep. Whiteblaze wouldn't have any of this. If he was going to be wide-awake, then so would his charge.

The white tiger crouched down, preparing to pounce. Ryo never knew what happened. One minute he was falling back into a peaceful darkness, then the next he had a heavy weight pushing him into his mattress. The tiger then proceeded to push the pillow up and groom Ryo's hair while he had the opportunity.

"ACK! You stupid tiger! Quit! I'm up already! Get uffff. " Ryo was cut off when Whiteblaze gave him a final shove into the mattress before he leaped to the floor. The boy sat up, glaring at the cat, which looked back innocently. "Don't look at me like that. It was bad enough you had to jump on me, but did you really have to lick my hair?"

"Wwwwffff," Whiteblaze replied, nodding his once, and looking as if he were smiling.

Ryo got out of his bed and made his way to his bedroom door. However, when he opened the door he was knock down as a white blur ran passed. "You stupid tiger," Ryo laughed. He got up and let his friend outside. He watched as the tiger quickly disappeared into the forest. He shook his head as he shut the door, then made his way back to his room. Once there, he grabbed some clean clothes and made his way to the bathroom.

Ryo turned the water on, let it warm up, and then added some cold water to make sure it wouldn't burn his skin off. He got rid of the boxers and shirt he was wearing and threw them into the hamper. He stepped into the shower and lowered his head so the water could run down his back. Whatever sleepiness he had still felt fled when the water touched his skin. He remained that way for a few minutes then started to clean the tiger spit out of his hair.

Once he finished his shower and got dressed, Ryo brushed the tangles out of his hair and brushed his teeth. He cleaned up the bathroom the best he could, then walked around the cabin, grabbing a few things for his hike. As he walked out the door, he grabbed his jacket off its hook. He stopped at a rose bush, his mother loved when she was alive, and proceeded to cut two of them off the way she had taught him.

He put two fingers in his mouth and blew, causing a loud whistle to echo throughout the forest. Ryo heard his friend running towards him. When Whiteblaze appeared from behind the trees cover, Ryo smiled and walked over to him.

"Ready to go, Blaze?" Ryo asked.

Whiteblaze rubbed his head against Ryo's leg, and purred in his own way. It sounded weird coming from an animal that didn't have the ability to purr, but Ryo knew what he meant. The boy reached a hand up and scratched behind the tiger's left ear. He heard another soft rumble from the tiger throat and his smile grew wider.

They started their journey at five; a few hours before the sun's light would show its promise of a new day.

stststst

Kento's alarm went off at eight. His eyes fluttered open, and he slowly got out of bed. He reached for the phone by his bed and dialed Sai's number.

"Hello, Mouri residence," a cheerful voice said.

"Sai?" Kento asked.

"Hai. Kento?"

"How did you know?"

"You told me yesterday you were going to call, baka," Sai chuckled.

"Have you heard from the others?"

"Sage called last night. He said Rowen and he had met yesterday to play chess. I ran into Rowen the other day, but you were there. And I talked to Ryo over the phone a couple days ago. He said he was busy cleaning the cabin."

"Yeah, and he had to give Whiteblaze a bath. I don't know who to feel sorry for, Whiteblaze or Ryo."

"Ryo," Sai answered automatically. There was a silence over the phone for a few seconds. "Has he even come into town this week?"

"Don't worry, Sai. Ryo can take care of himself. You should know that by now. And if he did, it was probably to stock up the cabin again. Don't worry so much," Kento assured him.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I asked Sage who was going to go get Yuli-"

"I will," Kento cut him off. "I have to run some errands for my dad anyway. You guys go ahead and see if you can help Mia."

"Sounds like a plan. Did you talk with Rowen or something?" Sai joked.

"Hey! I can come up with good plans, too, ya know," Kento tried to defend himself.

"I know, Buddy. It's just doesn't happen too often, now does it?" Sai continued to laugh.

"No," Kento chuckled. "Well, I'm starving, so I'm gonna go grab some breakfast."

He heard Sai sigh on the other end.

"Okay, Kento. I'll see you at Mia's. And don't forget to bring extra clothes."

"Hai, Mother."

stststst

Sage woke up at eight-thirty, sleeping later than he had wanted, but knew it was okay. He pulled himself out from the warmth of his comforter, dragged himself across his room, grabbed some fresh clothes, then made his way to the bathroom. The next two hours was spent showering and grooming his hair. He exited the bathroom to come face-to-face with Yayoi.

"What took you so long? I had to use Mom and Dad's bathroom!"

"You're worse than Kento," Sage mumbled before he headed back to his room.

He really missed the others. That was why he had asked Rowen to play chess yesterday. He knew he would lose but he just wanted the company of his teammate. Sure his sisters were there, and he loved them, but they were so annoying most of the time. Part of him admired Rowen and Ryo. They didn't have any siblings; it was just them. They didn't have to worry about getting yelled at if they spent too much time in the bathroom. But the other part pitied them for the same reason. They didn't have someone to talk to if they didn't want to talk to their parents.

Then Sage thought about their parents. Rowen's were divorced, but he was still able to see both of them. And although his father was always at work, all Rowen had to do was to go to the University and visit him. His mother was always at their place when she was in town, and she spent most of her time talking with Rowen. Ryo, on the other hand, didn't have a mother, and his father was always out of the country. Ryo wasn't even allowed to call his dad, for the man might have been trying to take a picture at the moment; so Ryo had to wait until his father had the time to call him. Sage had never met the man, but he knew-due to Ryo standing by him 100 percent if the subject came up- that the man was just as much a workaholic as Rowen's father was. But that thought didn't make Sage feel any better with the situation.

Sage walked into the kitchen and sat his suitcase down. He had already told his family he was leaving for a while. When they had asked about it he just said he and the guys were staying at the Koji mansion with a friend. At first his parents refused, but Sage said that he was going because he had promised, they were like his brothers, and he missed them. So his parents finally agreed. After all, he was mature for his age and he could be trusted.

He grabbed some breakfast then said goodbye. He left his home, heading for Rowen's apartment. It was 11:45, so his friend should be awake. When he arrived he went on up to the fourth floor and knocked on the door.

"Comin'" he heard Rowen call from inside. Then he heard a crash. "AW HELL!" Rowen shouted.

"Rowen? Are you alright?"

The boy in question opened the door. He stood there in a pair of shorts, wet hair, no shirt, juice all over his chest, and a book in his left hand.

"What happened!" Sage asked already knowing the answer.

"Ah tripped ov'ah the lamp cord!" Rowen shouted. Then he thought about it. "Ah guess it is funny once ya think 'bout it. Come on in."

Sage walked into the apartment as Rowen stepped aside. After shutting the door, Rowen went to take another shower, while Sage straightened the living room and cleaned up the mess. A few minutes later the duo left Rowen's and headed for Sai's.

stststst

Sai left his apartment and decided to head for Rowen's. His blue-haired friend was probably just getting up.

"Rowen! Watch it!" a voice yelled.

Sai looked across the road, quickly spotting Sage, who was pulling Rowen away from a telephone pole. Rowen had his face in another book, as usual.

"Sage! Rowen!" Sai shouted and waved his arm.

His two friends looked around then noticed him across the street.

"Hey!" they both waved.

Sai looked both ways and crossed the road. "Kento's going to pick up Yuli. He said for us to go ahead and help Mia if she needs it," he said when he reached the safety of the sidewalk.

"Sounds good. I don't really feel like riding in his van again," Sage replied.

"Ah know. Last time Ah was in it, Ah found half a burg'ah, candy wrapp'ahs, and thousands of coke cans," Rowen agreed.

"Then let's find a cab and get going," Sai suggested.

The other two agreed.

stststst

Mai was three-fourths of the way through making their lunch when she heard a knock at the door. It was now 1:00, and she still wasn't finished. She left the kitchen and went to the front door. When she opened it, she was greeted with three yellow roses and three bowing boys.

"These are for you," Sage said.

"Fo'ah askin' us t' come back," Rowen added.

"And for making lunch," Sai smiled as he smelled something coming from the kitchen.

Mia took the roses, raising them to her nose so she could smell them. She stepped to the side, allowing them to enter.

"Make yourselves at home," she said as she headed for the kitchen.

Sai sat his bags down by the stairs, then followed her. "Need a hand?" he asked.

"Thanks. I want to be done before Kento gets here," Mia answered.

"He's picking up Yuli, so I'd say we have at least another half hour."

"That'll have to do. Have you heard from Ryo?"

"Yeah, he's called all of us over the week. We just talked for an hour or so. He seems to be okay, I guess."

"I hope so."

"I'm sure he is," Sai assured her, but he had a bad feeling in his gut.

"Check mate!" They heard Rowen shout from the other room.

"MAN! NOT AGAIN!" Sage whined in a very unlike Sage way. "One more time."

"Don't ya ev'ah learn?" Rowen teased.

"Shut-up and play," Sage demanded.

Raising an eyebrow, Mia looked over at Sai. The boy just shrugged and went back to cutting up lettuce.

stststst

Ryo arrived at the grave-sight at 6:30 am. The sun's light had just begun to show over the far mountain. It had taken him awhile to get there. He would've usually stayed the whole day, unless it was a school day. But luckily, the school had just let out for summer. The guys and he had got a head of everyone and were passed to the ninth grade for next year. So know they had the whole summer to relax and have nothing to worry about.

Ryo approached his mother's headstone and sat in front of it. He set the roses on the corners. One represented his mother, and the other was his little sister. 'She would be alive if it weren't for me. They both would be_,' _he thought, lowering his head in shame.

Whiteblaze watched his charge and friend a few feet away. Ryo always did this to himself; always beat himself up over their deaths even though he couldn't have done anything to prevent them. It wasn't his fault that their time was over. There was nothing Ryo could have done. It was out of his hands.

Ryo allowed tears to roll down his cheeks. He ran his fingers over his mother's name engraved in the stone. "Gomen. I shouldn't have put off coming to see you. This is the first thing I should have done," he whispered. He sat there awhile longer, just running his hand across her name. "You wouldn't believe what all has happened to me, Mama. The guys are the best friends I could ever have. They're like family, ya know? It feels good to know I can count on them when I need them. They give me strength to keep going. Especially during the fight with Talpa. I would've died if it weren't for them."

He looked up to see the sun was now peeking out over the mountain. To conform the time, Ryo looked at his watch, which said it was almost nine. He had been there for almost three hours. If he left now, he would make it to Mai's with time to spare. With that in mind, he stood and bowed.

"Speaking of the guys, they're waiting for me. I'll come back to see you soon. Ja'ne."

Whiteblaze walked over and rubbed against Ryo's leg. The boy absent-mindedly scratched him behind his ear. They started to walk away, but Ryo paused for one last look. The wind ruffled his hair and he whipped the tears away from his eyes. He gave a sad smile before he began to follow his friend.

Something, like a creature breathing, sounded behind him. Ryo's reflexes kicked in and he turned to see what it was. He was greeted by some kind of dust being blown into his face.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

IT'S A CLIFF HANGER! Aren't I evil?…No? Well, wait until you read what I do to my favorite Ronin in red. Mwwwwwwwwaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!


	2. Capture

AUTHOR NOTE 1: Action begins here. If you get queasy at the mention of pain, why are you here? Leave! Don't stay any longer! PAIN AHEAD! For those who love the stuff, proceed.

AUTHOR NOTE 2: Remember the time difference between each section. Ryo's is happening in late morning, while the guys are in the afternoon (12-5) hours. Please understand and don't get confused. Sorry if you do. I tried…

AUTHOR NOTE 3: Please ignore the symbol system that was mentioned in the first chapter. won't let the symbols show. I've tried every trick that I know and I can't get it to work. Gomen.

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 2: Capture

cccccrrrrreeeeeaaaaakkkkk…. BANG

Kento shut off the engine and looked over at the boy who was clinging to his safety belt. He ruffled the boy's hair gently while shaking his head. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

Yuli looked up at the bearer of Justice. "Um, why did it sound like that? Is it sick?"

"Nani? No way! She's always like that. Come on, let's go see what the others are up to, shall we?"

"Yeah!"

Once he stepped out of the vehicle, Kento smelled food. Good food…. Suddenly, his stomach growled, causing his legs to take action. Yuli was nearly knocked over by the older boy running to the house. With a laugh the boy gave chase, racing after his friend. When they got inside, Yuli threw his bags down in the hall, and went to see what Sage and Rowen were up to, while Kento ran to the kitchen.

"One more time!" Sage demanded looking very frustrated.

Rowen laughed and set the board up for another round.

"Where's Ryo?"

Rowen and Sage looked at each other, and then turned to the small boy who'd asked the question.

"He'll be he'ah soon, Yuli," Rowen answered.

CRASH

The three sitting at the table turned their attention to the kitchen door.

"GET OUT!" They heard Sai yell from the other room.

A second later Kento stumbled out the door, nearly falling on his face. He stood up, whipped imaginary dirt off his shirt, and tried to look innocent. The others weren't buying any of it.

"Wha'd ya do this time, Buddy?" Rowen asked him.

"I just wanted a carrot stick," Kento whined.

At the expression he gave, the other three burst into laughter. Kento shrugged and walked over to the TV. He pulled out his Play Station and began a game. Yuli left the two at the chessboard to sit by Kento and watch him play.

stststst

Ryo felt a rush of pain coursed through his body. He clenched his teeth to hold back a scream. Once the pain subsided, he looked up to see a figure dressed in blood-red armor with black fog over it, making it look like marble stone.

"What do you want?" Ryo asked, as he stood up straighter.

It gave him a wicked smile for a moment; its eyes gleaming of pure evil. It titled it head to the left and whispered, "You."

When it took a step forward, Ryo tried to call upon his sub armor, but it refused to respond. The boy looked up in utter shock. He felt someone behind him and began to turn. A fist hit him in his back, knocking him to the ground. He recovered quickly, rolling to a standing position before any further damage could be delivered.

Whiteblaze ran to Ryo's side and took a defensive position next to him. He could sense something was wrong with Ryo and wasn't about to leave him in their hands just to go get help.

The new figure had armor like the first, only it was a dark army-green color. Without a moment's hesitation, it went after the tiger, while the red figure went after the boy. The red one seemed to be laughing at Ryo's efforts to get away. The boy dodged and blocked the blows it was delivering, but it knew the boy couldn't last forever without his armor. Ryo wasn't a threat to it, or was he? It wanted to find out.

Ryo was thrown into a tree, after a kick to his side, and he slid down to lie limply in the grass at the base. Whiteblaze growled and ran over to him. The two figures watched silently as the tiger nuzzled Ryo's hair, silently asking him to wake up. The boy's eyes fluttered open and he sat up. When he saw his friend was covered with scratches, rage flared within him. Nobody did this and got away with it. Nobody.

Ryo stood and resumed a fighting stance; Whiteblaze joined him. All four fighters charged at the same time. At the last second, Whiteblaze jumped over Ryo, while Ryo slid under Whiteblaze. The tiger tackled the red figure, while the boy did the same to the figure in green.

Ryo punched the figure in the head repeatedly, but because he didn't have his armor-and he was hitting armor-his knuckles quickly began to bleed, so he jumped away from it. It stood up, and with a mischievous smile, it whipped the blood off its mouth. Something grabbed both of Ryo's arms, jerking them behind his back. It took both of his wrists in one hand, and then hit the back of his head hard enough to send his face to the left. Ryo's eyes rolled back in his head as they slid closed, and the rest of his body went limp.

Whiteblaze roared and ran to help, but the red figure shot a small ball of lightning at him, sending electricity throughout the animal's body. The tiger fell to the ground with a growl of pain. He watched helplessly as the three figures came together. The one in red took Ryo from the new figure, which wore the same armor only it was a dark bluish-gray color with the black fog. The green armor was holding a video camera. The red armor removed Ryo's jacket and threw it towards Whiteblaze. With fear for his charge and friend, Whiteblaze pushed himself to his feet and ran for the armors, but they vanished before he was able to reach them, taking Ryo with them.

The tiger gave a roar of anger and fear then took off for the mansion. It grabbed Ryo's jacket as it ran by. Whiteblaze had to get the others; there was no way he could save Ryo on his own.

stststst

The guys gathered at the table for their late lunch. Ryo still wasn't there and it was getting harder to keep Kento out of the kitchen.

"I still say we should wait for Ryo," Sage said.

"Hey, it's not our fault he's not here," Kento disagreed. "I say 'you snooze, you loose'. And besides, I'm starving and I'll die if I wait any longer."

"Fine," Sage mumbled. He didn't like the fact that Ryo wasn't there yet. Ryo would have a least called if he were going to be late. The raven-haired boy was impetuous and did things on impulse, but if he changed his plans in the slightest he would have let them know. Something was wrong; he could feel it deep down in his gut.

"Yeah. Okay, Kento. But ya'll have t' deal wif Ryo's temp'ah when he gets he'ah," Rowen warned.

"I'll have eaten by then. I'll be able to handle him," Kento laughed.

The others watched as Kento stuffed his face as fast as he could, and got a good laugh when he began to choke on a biscuit. An hour later, they had cleared the table and washed the dishes. They now sat in the living room, watching some comedy movie. They were all worried about Ryo, though.

'He shoulda been he'ah by now_,'_ Rowen thought.

stststst

In the center of a dark room, a light showered down upon a figure that limply hung three feet off the ground. Its legs were spread wide, arms were pulled out and up from its body, and chains were locked around its wrists and ankles. The chains were tight, making it impossible for the spread-eagled figure to move in the slightest bit.

Ryo's eyes slowly opened, his vision was fuzzy. "Blaze…" he called softly. Instead of his tiger, the blood-red armor appeared in front of the Ronin of Wildfire. As his vision cleared, Ryo held his head high, glaring at the figure before him. "What do you want?" he asked again.

The armor raised its hand and slapped Ryo's face repeatedly for a couple of minutes. Then it just stood there, listening to the deep breathing of its prisoner. After a second of gathering his wits, Ryo turned his face back to the armor.

"You are alone, Wildfire. No one will save you," it smiled. When the boy didn't say anything, just continued to glare, the armor punched Ryo's stomach and face. Ryo tried to pull into himself, to stop the pain, but it didn't work. He looked up to glare at the figure, but what he saw made his eyes widen, his breath caught in his throat, and his whole body began to shake.

His mother, Satishui Sanada, stood there before him. She was just as he remembered her: long, tamed, black hair which reached down to her waist; pregnant, otherwise thin; but her eyes were different. They were still the same shade of brown, but now they held anger; nothing else, no life, love, or sadness; just anger.

Satishui walked up to Ryo and laid a hand on his chest. She smiled when she felt it beating rapidly. He was scared and shocked. "Look at what you did, Ryo," she said sadly; though her eyes were still filled with anger. "You killed your sister. You killed me."

Ryo tried to close his eyes, but he couldn't. He could only watch as the whole incident was shown through a portal twelve feet in front of his face.

zozozozo

Satishui was sitting in her chair in the living room. She rubbed her stomach gently thinking about the child inside. "I hope you're not like your brother, little one. I don't know if I can survive two of him," she smiled fondly. The thought of her little boy always brought a smile to her face. He was only four years old and was already talking good Japanese, getting into everything, and yet he behaved when he was told to do something.

It was only she and Chibi-Ryo at the cabin. Her husband, Aoi, was out of the country taking pictures of exotic animals in Europe. It was usually like that; he was out of the country working and Chibi-Ryo and her were at the cabin.

She could feel something was wrong with the baby; call it mother's intuition, but she was having pains that she'd never had with Ryo. It might have been the stress from being pregnant and already having a four year old to take care of. Chibi-Ryo was wearing her out. He was full of energy and curiosity; just like she was, so she understood and was very patient with him when he ran around the cabin nonstop.

Satishui was on the verge of sleep when she heard a scream and crash coming from Chibi-Ryo's room. She leaped up from her chair and ran down the hall. She threw the door open and began to panic from what she saw. Chibi-Ryo was on his back, and had blood running out of a cut on his forehead. The shelf set in his room was on the floor, along with all the toys on them. She kicked everything out of her way as she moved over to her son.

Chibi-Ryo's eyes were closed and his mouth was open but she saw the small rise and fall of his chest that told her he was still alive. But the cut on his head scared her; she needed him awake. She gently gathered him in her arms and shook him.

"Ryo-san? Ryo!" she shouted. Relief flooded through her when his tiger blue eyes opened and focused on her. "What happened?"

The boy looked confused for a second, looking around the room. It took a second to realize he was in pain; and once it hit him, tears leaked out of his eyes. "Ball…I-I tripped…H-hit shelf…I…"

"Shhhh it's okay, Ryo-san." She gathered the crying boy in her arms and began to stand. "AAAHHHH!" she screamed and fell back to the floor.

"Mama!" the four-year-old boy pulled out of her arms, tears stopping, and looked at her in fear.

"Help. Ryo," she gasped.

Chibi-Ryo ran into the living room and called for an ambulance. Satishui had told him how to just in case; quizzing him on their address repeatedly for the past few weeks. When he hung up the phone, he ran into the kitchen and got a wet rag for his mother. He had completely forgotten about the blood and cut on his head; including the pain. He was focused on his mother.

He ran back to his room, placed the wet rag on Satishui's forehead, and then noticed there was blood around her midsection. Chibi-Ryo grabbed his pillow off his bed and placed it under her head. After that he ran into the living room and grabbed a pillow off the couch, ran back to his room, and place that pillow under her knees. Once that was done, all he could do was sit down by her side and hold her hand.

After a several minutes, Chibi-Ryo heard the door open. He got up and ran into the living room. His cut had stopped bleeding, but the pain was still there. He ignored it.

"Ryo!" his father exclaimed when he saw his son. He had come home early and had planned on surprising his family. Aoi ran over to his son and knelt down to examine the cut.

Chibi-Ryo flinched at the touch, but it snapped him out of his shocked state. Tears rolled down his face, as he grabbed his father's hand and ran towards his bedroom.

Upon seeing his wife, Aoi jerked away from his son and ran over to her. "'Shui? Satishui?" he whispered in fear as he gently shook her. She opened her eyes and looked up at her husband.

"You-You're here,…Aoi," she smiled weakly.

"Hold on! I'm going to call for help."

"No," she said as she grabbed his arm. "R-Ryo-san has."

Aoi looked over his shoulder, but didn't see his son anywhere. He looked around the room and found him in a corner, sitting up with his knees to his chest. He motioned for the boy to come to him. Chibi-Ryo stood up, took a step towards his father, but heard footsteps coming to the front door. He ran out of the room and flew to the front door, throwing it open once he reached it. The paramedic looked at him in shock.

"Mama!" Chibi-Ryo shouted and pointed to the hall. "Help, Mama!" He stepped back as they ran to down the hall and into his bedroom. He followed close behind, wanting to know what was happening. He watched as they loaded her onto a stretcher and pushed her out to the ambulance. Then Aoi picked him up and climbed into the ambulance. Chibi-Ryo stayed silent all the way to the hospital.

Once there, Chibi-Ryo was separated from his family. The doctor cleaned his cut and bandaged it. It wasn't deep enough to need stitches, but it would leave a faint scar. When he was finished, the doctor took him to his father. Aoi didn't say anything to his son; just held him in his arms until Satishui's doctor came to give them the news. She had had a miscarriage, and was very weak. She might not make it.

Chibi-Ryo and Aoi sat with Satishui for 21 hours. The last thing she did was touch Chibi-Ryo's face and smile. Then she was gone. Gone forever.

ozozozoz

Ryo held tears back; refusing to cry and give the image of his mother what she wanted. Finally able to control his head, he turned away from her. He didn't need to see that; to relive it again. Now it was stronger than ever. His heart hurt from guilt and pain. He didn't mean for it to happen. But it did. And it was his fault…

'Satishui' placed her hand on his face and made him look at her. Her face was cold; no emotion whatsoever, and her eyes were lifeless.

"You killed us, Ryo-san. I loved you so much. You were my pride and joy, and you KILLED ME!" she screamed then proceeded to slap him.

Ryo lowered his head in shame, and listened as she walked away into the darkness. He hung there, not really feeling the pain from the slap or from the chains restraining him. He felt a new presence in the room, and searched the darkness around him. His body tensed when he saw a movement off to his right.

"Who's th-" he began but was cut off by a harsh voice.

"You know who," Aoi said as he stepped out from the shadows.

"Da-"

"Don't! You killed my family. She was all I had left! Do you not understand that? It was just her and me! Neither of us have any other family! Now she's gone. And all because of YOU!" Aoi shouted. His fist came out of nowhere, landing on Ryo's already bruised cheek.

"Ah!" Ryo yelled, clenching his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut.

"And you wonder why I never come around. Why should I? You're lucky I send money, call, or write those letters. You aren't worth the time or the effort."

Ryo's head snapped up at the words. They might as well have been blows to his body. But they weren't, and they hurt more than any punch he had ever received. His eyes were pulled back to the portal, showing him proof of his 'father's' words.

zozozozo

A five-year-old boy ran as fast as he could to his home in the woods. His father was supposed to be there when he got home. The little boy couldn't wait. He ran to the cabin, jerked the door open, and continued to run inside, searching for his father. The child looked everywhere but found no signs of his father. He went outside and searched all the places his father used to take him to when he was younger. Again, no sign of the older Sanada.

For four days, Chibi-Ryo worried about his father. Then he received a letter in the mail. His mother had started to teach him how to read when she was alive and he was beginning to learn in school, so he knew how to pronounce the words. It was just slow going.

Aoi had written, saying he couldn't make it this time; that he was going to South America. He would try to make it home once he got what he went after. He was sorry he was going to miss Chibi-Ryo's birthday, but he couldn't afford to not take the job.

As much as Chibi-Ryo wanted to believe his father, he was upset that he was going to miss his birthday. Chibi-Ryo couldn't remember any of his birthdays, except for his fourth, and his father wasn't there for that one. He had to take pictures of some rare lizard in France or something. Chibi-Ryo had hoped to spend the whole day with his dad. He hadn't seen the man in a month and a half. And the boy was all alone in the forest.

stststst

The next vision shown in the portal was of Ryo when he was nine. He was sitting under a tree, watching the birds in a tree a few yards away. They were beautiful colors: bright green, with a sky blue, and a little bit of yellow thrown in. He was also listening to the man who stood by a truck a couple feet away.

"No, I'm spending time with Ryo," Aoi was saying. "Yes, I know that… That's not it…No. I just haven't been around for along time…Okay, look. Ryo's twisted his wrist. I had to come home…He had to go to the hospital…No, he insists he's fine…Yeah, I guess I can do that…Africa? Why?…A white leopard, uh…I'm sure I can have my things ready to go tomorrow. How long will do you think this will take… That long, uh?…No, Ryo will be fine. The kid is good at taking care of himself…Yeah, see you soon."

"Ryo?" Aoi said as he approached the boy.

Ryo looked up and gave a soft smile. "Yeah, Dad?" he asked. He was slightly confused when he seen a grimace cross his father's face.

"I'm going to head for Africa tomorrow. There's a white leopard with my name on it. Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

"How long?"

"A month or so. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. It's just a sprain, Dad. Nothing to fuss over." As Aoi began to walk away, Ryo asked, "Do you need a hand getting ready?" He had already begun to rise to show the older man that he wanted to help.

"No. I think I can handle it."

Ryo sat back down and went back to watching the birds, singing happily with each other.

ozozozoz

As the portal faded, Ryo shut his eyes and tried to hold back the tears that wanted to fall. He was so angry that all of this was being forced onto him. He'd already lived through this once; why did they feel he needed to live through it again? He heard evil laughter and looked up. It belonged to the blood-red armor. The laughter stopped and the armor looked Ryo in the eye. Its dark red eyes shimmered with evil and it raised its hand into the air. A ball of electricity surged forward and hit Ryo on his left, lower abdomen, causing a wound to open and blood to run down his side.

"AHHHHH!" Ryo released a scream of pain. He clenched his teeth and pulled into himself to stop the pain. "Why?" he weakly asked the figure; it was all he could manage.

The armor's answer was another ball of electricity to his right shoulder. Ryo's head flew back and he tried to hold in a scream by grabbing hold of the chains. It didn't work, though, and he screamed louder as more blood flowed from the new wound.

When his head fell back into place, the armor said, "I want to see how strong the Wearer of the Wildfire and Inferno is. Let's just say it's a test." The figure paused and looked thoughtful. "I want to know why you were chosen to bare the strongest armor of every dimension. You've only begun to scratch the surface of its power. You have no idea what it's truly capable of. And I want to know if you're as strong as you want to believe you are."

Before Ryo could say anything, another figure appeared next to the blood-red armor. It was the dark green one that had hurt Whiteblaze. Ryo could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, but was snapped out of it when he felt something stab into his left side. He tried to hold back a cry of pain, causing it to sound more like a gasp. He saw the green armor pull an ice-pick out of his side.

"Wha-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as the armor stabbed him in the same place. It smiled as Ryo screamed in agony.

The blood-red armor vanished from the room, leaving the other to play with the prisoner. It appeared in another room and took a seat by the bluish-gray armor. They smiled at each other as Ryo's cries of pain filled the building.

stststst

Four male teenagers, an older female teenager, and an eight-year-old boy, all sat in the living room waiting for their friend to show up. The blue-haired boy was trying to read a book while the others watched the television. For the first time it seemed he wasn't able to concentrate on the book in his hands. And he knew the reason for that.

"Guys, Ah'm really startin' t' worry he'ah. It's three-thirty. He should'a been he'ah hou'ahs ago," he announced.

The others nodded in agreement. The Ronins had a really bad feeling about all this. It just wasn't like Ryo to be this late without calling them.

"Ah think we should go an' look fo'ah 'im," Rowen suggested.

"And what if we miss him?" Sai asked.

"We can't just sit here, can we?" Sage answered.

"I'm all for going, but-" Kento started.

"RRROOOOAAAAARRRRRR!"

They all jumped out of their seats and ran for the door. Sage was the first one to it and nearly jerked the door off its hinges in his haste. Whiteblaze stood outside, eight feet from the door. They quickly noticed the cuts in the tiger's fur. Sage moved forward to heal them, but the tiger growled when he as a foot away and threw down Ryo's jacket. He looked around to see confusion on everyone's faces.

When Sage bent down and picked up the jacket, Rowen asked, "Wh'ah's Ryo?"

The tiger gave a loud whine/roar and looked back the way he had come. It took him so long to get there; longer than it should've. He thought that he had a trace and tried to follow it, but it turned out to be a bad lead, and he had to find his way back through the forest. The tiger was angry with himself for getting distracted; he should've come straight here.

Whiteblaze turned back around to face the others. They were looking at the sky, which had darkened over when the tiger had cried out. Whiteblaze grabbed hold of Ryo's jacket and pulled Sage, who still had a hold of it, with him as he began to run.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Sage called to the others, letting go of the jacket.

"Come on then!" Rowen shouted and took off for Kento's van.

"Stay here, you guys. It might be dangerous," Sai said when Mia and Yuli tried to follow.

Yuli looked like he wanted to protest but Mia held him back. "Go and bring him back."

"If we find him, we will," the auburn haired teen assured her. Sai ran to the van and jumped in. The Ronins followed the tiger into the forest, then they had to go by foot when the road stopped. It didn't take long for them to get to the grave-sight.

"Satishui Sanada?" Sai read aloud.

"Ryo's mother?"

"I suppose so, Kento. But why two roses?" Sage asked, spotting the red flowers.

The others just shrugged. Ryo had never told them too much about his past.

"Well, whatev'ah wen' on, Ryo put up one helluva fight," Rowen announced, looking around the area.

They went back to the mansion when they couldn't find anything that would help them find their kidnapped friend. Sage healed Whiteblaze's wounds; receiving a lick for gratitude. The tiger then took Ryo's jacket to his charge's room and curled up on the bed. Yuli came in and sat next to him, but Whiteblaze didn't acknowledge the youth.

"He'll be okay, Whiteblaze. He'll be okay."

The tiger released a whine and looked out the window.

stststst

The bluish-gray armor circled Ryo, while looking the boy up and down. Ryo had been tortured for hours. His energy was leaving him, and they wouldn't allow him to go unconscious. He was silently begging for the release that was just beyond his reach. His body was covered with bruises and cuts that had dried blood around them. They had shocked him, punched him, and stabbed him all day and night.

The armor struck Ryo again across his face, then shocked him. It smiled at the scream of agony, then allowed Ryo to go unconscious. The body, held up by chains, went limp. The hands that had been holding the chains in a tight grip released their hold, and sweat filled hair fell into the boy's face as his head dropped onto his chest.

The armor walked over to the video camera that was hidden in the shadows of the room, picked it up, and circled the limp boy. Once it was finished, it turned off the device and vanished, leaving the Ronin alone in the dark. It appeared in the other room with the other two armors.

"Now what do we do with him?" it asked the blood-red one.

"Leave him…until he awakes."

"And then?"

"Then we put him through hell," it smiled.

"Tell us exactly what, Soylaberst," the green armor demanded.

"It's simple, Ky," he chuckled. "We have to kill the hope he still has left. We'll see how strong he is. Then we'll break him, and I'll savor every moment."

"Aren't you using up your power just to keep him from using his armor?" the bluish-gray armor questioned.

"Part of it, Zual. But as he begins to weaken, I don't have to use as much," Soylaberst replied with a bit of annoyance.

"So how much film is left?" Ky asked. They hadn't recorded everything; just the really good parts.

"Enough for the next phase of our plan," Zual answered with a smirk.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

And yet ANOTHER cliffhanger. Man, am I good or what? Also, I would like to point out that I do NOT like Mia paired with any of the boys. Anubis can have her. Gomen, but I'm a yaoi writer, and when I'm not writing that (like in this fic), the only relationship will be a friendship one (and sometimes very strong friendship, almost so that it's boarder line). So no, there will be no romance in this fic. Ryo will get all his lovin' from the 'guys' (meaning all his friends, so Mia is included).


	3. Final Preparations

AUTHOR NOTE 1: I forgot to say this in the first chapter. There is NO Hariel. Those damned dubbers screwed up the whole thing, because the toy company needed a name for the Inferno/Ryo action figure. Now you see why we couldn't get the OAV's until years later? We screwed the plot up so much that the continuations wouldn't fit. We should just REMAKE the whole thing. That way we could fix the voice mistakes in the second episode (that one was just awful). And we could fix the plot and make it right…But one can only dream…Anyway, I don't like the "Hariel" thing (unless the writer is really creative with it, like Reona!), so forget he was even mentioned in the dub. I'm going with the Japanese version.

AUTHOR NOTE 2: I'm having a bit of trouble just doing Ro's accent. I'm trying but it seems to be coming out funny. :shrugs: Gomen but I hope you guys are understanding him enough to know what he's saying….It just looks so much better on paper….

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 3: Final Preparations

The first thing that registered was pain; his whole body ached with every breath his lounges managed to pull in. The second thing that struck him was coldness, due to the wind around him. All he wanted to do was go home, take painkillers, curl up close to the fireplace next to Whiteblaze, and sleep while listening to the guys talk. With that thought, the boy drew his legs closer to his body. The fact that he could move shocked him beyond belief.

Ryo's eyes shot open, and he quickly realized that he was no longer hanging in the dark room, but was on the ground lying near a cave. When he went to get up, every injury he had made itself known. Once he was standing-after nearly falling on his face several times-he looked himself over. His wrists and ankles were red and swollen, due to the wound in his side he had dried blood all the way down to his foot; his head, chest, and stomach hurt from the bruises and cuts on them; and his shoulders and hips hurt from being in the same position for so long.

He was snapped out of his mental check when Soylaberst appeared in front of him. They stared at each other, neither wavering under the others glare. Then the armor gave Ryo a mischievous grin and winked.

"If you want Halo to live, you had better hurry, Wildfire. He's starting to look a little pale," he said then vanished.

Ryo didn't hesitate as he ran into the cave. He didn't care if it was a trap; he had to help Sage. He ignored the protest his body gave him, as he pushed himself further into the depths of the cave. It didn't take long before two soldiers attacked him. They were similar to that of the Dynasty except for they their colors were black and brown, instead of green and purple. He did his best to dodge their attacks, but soon found himself trapped between them. Both raised their weapons and charged. At the last second Ryo jumped out of their way and turned to see them crash into the other, impaling themselves on the other's weapon.

The boy quickly pushed himself to his feet and continued his search for Sage. He soon spotted the blond tied to a rock. Ryo wanted to run over, but his instincts kicked in and he cautiously approached.

"Sage?" he asked; his throat burning from all the screaming he had done, and from breathing so heavy during the previous fight.

The blond lifted his head, his hair falling away from his eye. "Ryo? Is that you?"

"Yeah. It's me," Ryo assured, as he got closer.

The slumped figure straightened, eye's glowing black, and gave a wicked smile. "Good," a harsh voice said. Ryo was shocked into immobility as the figure before him changed into a Soldier. The chains around it dissolved quickly and the soldier ran for the paralyzed Ronin. Ryo snapped out of his shock a second before the soldier's scythe was able to cut his head off. The Warrior rolled away to a safe distance and quickly got back to his feet. Rage tried to fill him, but Ryo knew it would just drain his energy; and he needed all he had to get through this.

He held his arms up as the scythe came down again, blocking it from his face. He managed to shove the weapon away, then preceded to kick the soldier in its stomach. It recovered quickly, laughed at the boy's attempts to harm it, then proceeded to throw Ryo into the nearest wall.

"Ah," Ryo moaned as his back came in contact with said wall. He pushed himself up and ran for the soldier, tackling it to the ground. While it was stunned, Ryo grabbed the scythe and plunged the weapon into its chest. He jumped off when the spirit left the shell.

Ryo's fell back to the ground as he was hit in between his shoulder blades. Before he could turn around, he felt painful electricity coarse through his body, causing him to scream out in pain.

When the pain subsided, and he was able to open his eyes, Ryo found himself in a desert. Sand blew around him, making it hard to see too far ahead. He rose to his feet and looked around. It didn't take long for him to spot Kento, who was also tied down with restraints. The Warrior of Justice was bleeding from a cut on his forehead.

Knowing that it was probably another trap, Ryo still ran to his friend. He couldn't risk it if it wasn't; so he pushed away the doubt in his head. With only twenty feet left, Ryo was forced to stop as three Soldiers came out of the sand. The boy once again dodged and tricked two into killing each other. The third one had stayed out of the fight, just watching how Ryo moved. Once the other two were dead, it stepped forward for its turn. After a few blows to his stomach, Ryo decided enough was enough. He ran for the soldier, but instead of tackling it, he jumped over it then tripped it. The soldier fell on its own weapon, killing itself.

"Ryo?" Kento called.

"I'm here," Ryo said and ran to the boy's side; only to back away when the boy's eyes started to glow black and his body morphed into that of a Soldier. Ryo dodged as it dove for him. He had to get the soldier's weapon or he was a goner. Ryo punched 'Kento' for all he was worth, and was rewarded when the soldier went down, its weapon flying from its hand. The soldier stood up, looked at Ryo, then at it's weapon, which was off to the right between them. Ryo's eyes followed its to the same object. They both ran for it at the same time, but Ryo rolled, grabbed the sword, and cut the soldier in half as he rose to his feet.

"W-What's…go-going…on?" he gasped, breathing heavy. The sword fell to the ground from limp fingers. Before he could receive an answer, another electrical shock went through his body, sending him to the ground with a cry of pain.

The next thing Ryo knew was that he was in front of a lake. Something pulled him up from the ground and threw him into the shallow water where it then tried to drown him. Ryo struggled against the hand until he was free. He ran out of the water and kicked the soldier off its feet. He then tripped another one that had tried to sneak up on him. It landed on the other, causing death to both of them from the impact. Ryo grabbed its bow and blocked the swords of two more Soldiers.

Ryo summoned the strength to knock both Soldiers away. Then, while they were stunned, he rammed the bow through one's stomach, pulled it out, and rammed it into the other's chest.

Sai appeared before him, but quickly became a soldier like Sage and Kento had. Ryo blocked its attacks as best as he could; but his body was becoming tired, and hurt all over. The soldier took advantage of the boy's distraction by knocking Ryo's feet out from under him, sending him into the shallows. Ryo arched his back in pain. He waited until the soldier was close enough, and then sent his legs up to kick the soldier. As the soldier went flying, Ryo got up and threw the bow, which penetrated the soldier's side, causing the spirit to exit the shell as it fell to the ground.

Before Ryo could think to do anything, another shock coursed through his body, and nearly passed out from the pain. He shut his eyes and waited for it to go away, and then opened his eyes. He gasped when he saw that Rowen was chained near the edge of a cliff.

"Ryo!" Rowen shouted. "Ah need ya'ah help, Buddy!"

"Hold on!" Ryo shouted back as six Soldiers attacked him. 'Where the hell are all these things coming from!' he thought. When he looked over his shoulder, Ryo watched as Rowen also morphed into a Soldier and as he ran towards him. Ryo dodged and watched as the morphed 'Rowen' rammed into three of the soldiers. Two of them died as its scythe cut into them.

"You'll pay for that," the soldier said, dropping the accent of the Ronin it had imitated.

Ryo didn't have time for a come back; he was surrounded. As they closed in he dropped to the ground, stuck one leg out, and turned in a full circle. All the soldiers fell backwards and one died due to landing on another's scythe. Ryo jumped over them and ran towards the cliff. When he looked down, he noticed there were jagged rocks at the bottom. 'That should take care of them.'

"That all you got?" he mocked them.

All four rose and ran for the boy, blinded by rage, and hating him. At the last second, Ryo flipped over them, kicking two of them in the back to make sure they at least went over. Luckily, they grabbed the other two and pulled them along over the edge. Ryo looked over to see four spirits exit the shells.

The boy collapsed to the ground out of pure exhaustion, only to be shocked again. He cried out in pain and pulled into himself. He didn't know how much more he could take. He could feel the fresh wound emptying blood, along with the hole in his side. His heart felt like it was bleeding each time one of his friends had changed and attacked him. He felt alone now more than ever, even though he knew it had all been a trick. And he hated himself for falling for it.

Ryo wished for unconsciousness again, but instead, Soylaberst picked him up by the collar of his torn shirt and threw him into another scene. He fell into a snow-covered forest. His body quickly became numb, making him barely able to feel his limbs anymore. He got to his feet and staggered through the snow with rage as he heard a cry of pain being carried in the wind. Ryo knew the cry belong to Whiteblaze.

When he came to the clearing, he saw the tiger chained to the ground and being beaten by three Soldiers. Ryo's blood boiled as he threw himself at them. It was like all his strength returned to him. He threw one soldier into another and watched as they died from the force of the impact. His tiger blue eyes fell on the last remaining figure, and without hesitation, attacked it, delivering successful punches and kicks. He took its sword and slashed it in half; and when it's spirit left, so did his anger. He felt dizziness wash over him and fell to the ground, staying there until it passed.

Ryo slowly rose and cautiously approached the chained animal. He took the sword and cut the chain, which caused them to disappear. The boy slowly knelt down next to the tiger.

It's brown eyes glared at him and a threatening growl came from its throat. Startled, Ryo backed away, falling to the ground as every bit of strength left his warn out body. He sat there staring at his friend as hot tears streamed down his face. The animal gave him a look of that blamed Ryo for all its pain. And with it Ryo felt another stab at his heart.

Soylaberst appeared next the Whiteblaze, grinning wickedly. Ryo tried to get to his feet, but Ky and Zual grabbed his arms. He struggled to get free; to help his friend as Soylaberst let wave after wave of electricity hit the tiger. Whiteblaze roared in pain before going limp, breathing and heart stopping at once.

"NO!" Ryo screamed in agony, still trying to jerk himself free.

Soylaberst stepped in front of the captive boy and shocked him. He had found the boys breaking point, but he still wanted to see the boy suffer. So the blood-red armor continued to shock Ryo until he saw blood coming out of the corner of Ryo's mouth and his eye's beginning to glaze over. Ryo soon went limp in Ky and Zual's arms.

stststst

The next thing Ryo knew, he was back in the dark room, suspended off the ground in the same position he had been. He could taste blood in his mouth, but didn't really care about it.

"Face it, Wildfire, you're a murder. You killed your family, and caused hatred in your own father. No one cares, trusts, or loves you," Soylaberst laughed. "You always bring harm to those around you."

Ryo hung his head in acceptance, but part of him denied it. He knew his friends cared. He would protect them with his life. And he refused to believe that his father didn't care, even if he acted like it at times. But that part of him was quickly being cover up; even if he didn't want it to.

"You have lost everything," Ky repeated.

"You are alone in this world," Zual agreed.

"You have no one to turn to. No one wants you around," Soylaberst added. He was holding some paper and an old-fashioned feather pen, which he used to cut across Ryo's exposed stomach, making blood seep out.

Ryo felt the burn from the new wound, but didn't cry out; for he was too drained to do so. He didn't have the strength to do anything but watch as Soylaberst used his blood to write something. His vision was too blurry to make out the words though.

When the blood-red armor was finished, he shocked the boy enough to make him go limp in the chains. He then left the room with a smile plastered on his face.

stststst

For the past two days, the other Ronins had been training nonstop. They knew something was up and it wasn't going to be good. They hated not knowing where Ryo was or what was going on.

Mia had buried herself in her computer; looking for any clues that would tell them where Ryo was. Yuli roamed around the house. He would either watch the television or the guys as they trained. He stayed away from Whiteblaze, though. The tiger seemed to be very angry and ready to lash out at the slightest irritation. The tiger kept going to the mountain; trying to find clues, but returned with nothing, and automatically went upstairs, grabbed Ryo's jacket, and curled up on the Warrior of Virtue's bed.

Whiteblaze was going crazy. He had failed in protecting his friend. He should've tried harder. Ryo couldn't use his armor, for some reason unknown to the tiger. Whiteblaze could feel something was wrong, but he didn't know what. All he wanted was to hear Ryo call him a stupid tiger, even though the boy never meant it. Ever since Whiteblaze moved in with him, Ryo had called him it when they were playing around. The tiger let out a sigh; he would die if they didn't find his charge soon.

At three they all gathered in the living room to see if Mia had any luck with the computer. Rowen and Sage occupied the couch, Mia and Yuli sat in the loveseat, Sai sat in the recliner, and Kento sat on the floor. Whiteblaze was alone in the corner.

"Any luck, Mia?" Sage asked.

She slowly shook her head and the others released heavy sighs at the same time. It was all so frustrating, for the four Ronins could feel something was really wrong; the bond between them was strong enough to give them that. They could tell he was still alive, but they had a feeling that he wouldn't be much longer.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Sai asked.

"Well, we can't just sit here on our asses all day. We need to go out and look for him!"

"And where would we look, Kento. We don't have a clue of where to begin!" Sage snapped.

"Anywhere! Everywhere! Who cares! We aren't accomplishing anything by sitting around. We should be out there looking for him! _He _would have been on the _first _day!"

"Calm down, Kento."

"No, Sai. You know I'm right. If it were one of us, Ryo wouldn't stop until he found us! Why can't you understand that?"

"But he's not here, Kento. We don't have him here to lead us. He has a gut instinct that none of us have. If we tried to do things Ryo would do, it wouldn't work. It's like making Ryo fight with Sage's style; he would get his ass kicked. No one can fight like Sage. Just like no one can fight like you. Or me. Or Rowen," Sai mediated.

"But-"

"Couldn't we use the arm'ah t' locate 'im?" Rowen mused.

"Nani?" the others three asked.

"Well, didn't ya say, Sage, that Ryo used his arm'ah t' locate ya in the cave?"

"Yeah. He couldn't see. He had to use his armor power to find me," Sage thought aloud.

"Then all we have t' do is use ou'ah arm'ah, find 'im, save 'im, and be back home befo'ah my show comes on," Rowen smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

Suddenly, the house began to shake and thunder sounded outside. The occupants screamed when the lights went out. As quickly as it began, it stopped; the lights returned and the house quit moving. The group looked around to make sure everyone was okay.

"That was freaky," Sai breathed.

"I'll say. What do you suppose it was all about?" Kento asked.

"T' deliv'ah a message."

"What do you mean, Rowen?" Sage asked. He watched as his blue-haired friend stood up and reached for an envelope that was sitting beside a tape on the coffee table. The others watched as he opened it and pulled out a thick piece of paper. Rowen's eyes went wide and he dropped the envelope, along with its belongings, to the floor as he backed away.

"What's wrong?" Sage asked, and lent down to pick up the letter.

"Bl-Blood," Rowen gasped.

The others exchanged wary looks, then settled their eyes on the blond.

"What does it say, Sage?" Sai asked.

The blond took a breath to calm his nerves. Then began to read. "'Ronins, This letter is written in the blood of a close friend of yours. The one who considers you as brothers. The one you consider your leader. The one who made it easy for you to kill Talpa. Twice. The one we have waited to kill. Why? Because his death is the key to killing the rest of you Ronin brats. With him out of the way, the rest of you will be easy to dispose of. To deny him your friendship takes away his will to fight. As well as to live. His cries of agony fill every room from the torture we have inflicted upon him. Your images are still with him, but not for much longer. He is beginning to loose hope. We have recorded the events for your viewing-be it for pleasure or pain. If you watch it, you will be able to identify where we are keeping your precious Wildfire. But you must watch the whole way through. Even if you decide to come for him, you will meet the same fate. Death. You've been warned. But I can assure you it won't be as painful. In fact, I doubt you'll feel a thing. Soylaberst.'"

Anger grew with every word he read. Yuli held tighter onto Mia, and she finally placed him on her lap. Kento grabbed the tape and shoved it into the VCR and pressed the play button.

They watched as Ryo was captured, not believing his armor wouldn't work. Whiteblaze turned his head away in shame; blaming himself again for Ryo being taken. The others watched as Ryo beat the green armor, then jumped off with bloody knuckles. Then as he was grabbed from behind and was knocked out by the bluish-gray armor.

Then Ryo was then hanging in the middle of a dark room. He had a light shining down on him, which didn't spread to the rest of the room. A blood-red armor came out and attacked the chained boy. They watched Ryo's eyes widen at the sight of his mother and as the portal showed how she died. They were shocked when his father came out and lashed out at him, and at the images the portal provided.

They heard his cries of pain, but couldn't hear what the armors said to him. It was obvious they could speak due to the reactions Ryo gave them. The others couldn't believe all the bruises that covered his body. Ryo wasn't a person who bruised easily. It took a lot to get him to look the way he did now.

The next part of the tape was of Ryo fighting for each of his friends only to have them morph into soldiers and attack him.

"Why does he keep fighting? It's obviously they're all tricks," Kento said angrily.

"Whad if one was real? Ryo wouldn't risk it. He knows, but that question is what's makin' 'im continue," Rowen replied.

They watched as Ryo collapsed after fighting 'Rowen' and how the blood-red armor attacked him again. Whiteblaze wanted to jumped through the television. To do something to help Ryo. But once the next scene came on, the tiger was shocked by what he saw.

He lay there, covered with chains, and was watching Ryo fight for him. He watched Ryo's anger come to life and take over, fueling him to beat the enemy and save his friend. And for his success, all Ryo received was a growl and face that blamed him. Whiteblaze's heart broke as he watched Ryo fall to the ground and silently cry. 'It's not me, Ryo,'he thought. 'I would never blame you.' He whined as tears came to his own eyes. He watched as Ryo tried to help him when the blood-red armor attacked him. Then Whiteblaze's blood boiled as the same armor turned on Ryo.

When the picture went black Mia and Yuli were crying, Kento put his fist through the wall, Sai came back from the bathroom again, and Sage and Rowen were trying to figure out where on earth they were holding Ryo. Just as Rowen's finger was one centimeter away from the stop button, the screen came alive again. The blood-red armor was standing in front of an abandoned building in the old part of town, which was also abandoned. He smiled and stepped to the side, jestering an arm towards the building behind him.

In front of the building, Ryo was chained, suspended in the air, just like he was in the dark room. He was unconscious; his head against his chest that was slowly rising and falling; he was shirtless, showing off his deep cuts, a stab wound, bruises, and blood that covered his entire body; his pants had holes and slashes in them, and were covered with blood stains; he had no socks or shoes; and his feet dripped blood onto the ground.

Sai ran into the bathroom again, slamming the door behind him. Yuli screamed and buried his face in Mia's shoulder, while she just cried out and squeezed her eyes shut. Kento added another hole in the wall. Rowen buried his face in his hands as tears flowed down his face. Sage's face became hard, except for the tears rolling out of his eyes.

Whiteblaze roared and jumped to his feet. He grabbed Sage's hand and pulled him off the couch but the boy was frozen. The tiger got behind him and shoved him towards the door. It was enough to snap the blond out of it. "Let's go!" he shouted to the others.

Sai came out of the bathroom, which snapped the others out of their daze like states. They ran out the front door straight to Kento's van. The Ronin of Hardrock started the engine and raced the tiger to the abandoned part of town.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

Dunduhdundun! Ahhhhhhhhh! I'm so good, I scare myself. Sorry, it was short, but the next chapter should be longer….Maybe. I don't know. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me what you think.


	4. Is This the End?

AUTHOR NOTE 1: Just incase if you didn't catch on in previous chapters, the dust that was blown on Ryo is what is keeping him from using his armor. Soylaberst used it, and his power, to prevent our little Ronin in red from armoring up. I hope you'll understand better with this chapter.

AUTHOR NOTE 2: I'm also going to use the Japanese virtues. They make more sense than ours do. SAGE is COURTESY and ROWEN is INTELLEGENCE. Why? Because Rowen is the genius of the bunch so it fits better. : P

AUTHOR NOTE 3: Just to let you know, I SUCK at fight scenes. There will also be more torture to Fireboy. Isn't he lucky? I know he has to hate me at the moment. :shrugs: Oh well, Garuru will protect me.

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 4: Is this the end?

"Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" a boy screamed out in pain while grabbing ahold of the chains that extended from his wrists; his body was shaking uncontrollably. The boy opened his eyes and looked through the hair hanging in his face to see Zual smiling up at him.

The armor saw the internal fire leaving the tiger blue eyes. 'The boy is loosing his will to live,' he thought smiling. He punched Ryo's face, almost causing the young teenager's neck to snap as his head went to the right. Zual enjoyed watching the boy's breathing become erratic and as tears of pain streamed down his bruised face.

Ky appeared, and without hesitation, jabbed one of his pointed fingers into the wound he'd created in Ryo's side. Fresh blood poured out and ran down the boy's already blood-covered body. Ryo's head flew back as he screamed for all he was worth. It came out hoarse since he'd already screamed too much and his throat was raw from lack of water. Hot tears ran faster down his face and neck; mixing with the blood. The green armor smiled at the sound of agony the boy released. And he laughed as he pulled his finger out halfway, and then pushed it back in repeatedly. Ky drank up the screams as they grew louder.

When Soylaberst appeared beside him, Ky jerked his finger out so harshly that it opened the wound up more. Ryo cried out again and his head fell limply to his chest. His body shook harder, and his breathing became worse as he tried to get air into his lungs. Soylaberst placed his hand under Ryo's chin and lifted the boy's face. Their eyes met, and he smiled as he saw the life, no the flame, was extinguished. Only darkness, shame, and sorrow remained. The blood-red armor caressed the boy's face with his cold fingers.

"Wildfire," he said gently, "you are strong; just not strong enough. You've failed everyone you have ever loved. You are such a disappointment to all of them. Don't worry; it'll all be over soon. They won't have to worry about you screwing up anymore."

He released the boy's face, watching it fall back to his chest, and then stepped back. A ball of energy appeared before Soylaberst, right over his chest.

Ryo hadn't heard what Soylaberst had said; but he knew what was coming. 'Get it over with.' he thought as he closed his eyes, readying himself for the final blow.

The three armors smiled in unison. Soylaberst raised his hand, which held an electrical ball. "Goodbye, Wildfire," he laughed.

Before he could release his ball, Soylaberst was tackled to the ground. He tried to fight off his attacker, but he couldn't get it within his range to do so.

Whiteblaze was furious. He swiped his huge razor like claws at the armor, and snapped his jaws down repeatedly on what appeared to be vulnerable spots. He took the rage within him and poured it out on the armor.

Soylaberst, once he got a good look, recognized the beast; as the boy's tiger. He slammed his fist into the tiger's jaw, which sent the creature flying backwards. Before Whiteblaze could charge again, Soylaberst released a ball of electricity. It hit the tiger, which gave a growl of pain before he collapsed. The armor turned to see the other four Ronins appear.

Arrows flew through the air towards Ryo and the other two armors. Ky and Zual jumped out of the way before they became pincushions. The chains holding Ryo shattered, and the boy fell to the ground, groaning due to the pain the drop had caused.

"You bastards better get away from him!" Kento shouted.

"Or what?" Zual taunted.

"You'll hurt us?" Ky added.

Soylaberst joined his comrades; and all three armors approached the Ronins.

"You'll pay for hurting Ryo!" Sai exclaimed. Raising his weapon, he called upon his sure-kill, "Super-Wave-Smasher!" It was the strongest blast he had ever been able to created; fueled with his emotions. Before the blast could reach the armors, they vanished.

"Whe'ah'd they go?" Rowen asked, looking everywhere for their enemies. When he turned back to his front, he found them; right in front of them by about twelve feet.

"What the hell?" Sai shouted when he saw them.

"That's cheating!" Kento snarled, making a run for them. The other three followed his lead.

stststst

The sounds of shouting made Ryo open his eyes. He turned his head just enough to see his friends, in full body armor, running for Soylaberst, Ky, and Zual. He looked passed them to see, in a far distance, Mia and Yuli stood by Kento's van. He didn't see Whiteblaze anywhere, so he turned his head some more, only to find that his friend was lying on the ground. The only indication that he was alive was the slow rising and falling of his side. Ryo felt his heart fall at the sight; the visions came back of Whiteblaze growling at him and blaming him for his pain. Silent tears rolled down Ryo's already tearstained face.

stststst

"You'll pay!" Kento shouted as he attacked Ky again. The armor merely laughed as he threw the Warrior of Hardrock into the closest building. Sai soon joined Kento, landing on top of him.

Rowen called upon his sure-kill, which knocked Zual off his feet; while Sage went to help their friends. The blond used his sure-kill to sent Ky flying 20 feet away from them.

Soylaberst appeared above Sage and Rowen, and blew dust on them. He smiled and his energy ball-the one in front of his chest- grew bigger, drawing more power out of himself. The two Ronins went to use their sure-kills again, but were shocked instead. They dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. Kento and Sai rose from where they had been thrown and ran to their aid.

"You two okay?" asked a worried Sai.

"Yeah," Rowen panted.

They didn't see Soylaberst blowing more dust on the two new Ronins; causing his energy ball to grow bigger.

Zual looked at Ky as the green armor approached him. "He's using too much of his life force," Zual said while looking at the blood-red armor.

"He knows what he's doing."

"If that ball shatters, he could die, Ky!"

"I know. But there's we can do to stop him, now is there?" The two dropped the subject and made their way to their comrade who was blowing dust on the orange and light blue Ronins.

Sai and Kento ran to attack Soylaberst physically, but he easily batted them away. They stood and called upon their sure-kills, only to be shocked like their friends had been. They both fell to their knees panting. Sage and Rowen ran to them and helped them stand, but they all fell to their knees as they were pulled back to the ground. Ky and Zual stood beside Soylaberst, joining him as he laughed.

stststst

Ryo looked up, only this time due to the sound of laughter. When he saw all his friends down on their knees, faces showing they were in pain, his anger flared. 'Guys…hold on. I'm coming.' The fire came back to his eyes as he thought of them. He stood, pushing all the pain he felt down as he ran to help them.

stststst

"Time to die, Ronin brats!" Soylaberst laughed. "Lightning from Hell!" he cried. Lighting shot out from the ball of energy in front of him. It was the same energy he had been using on Ryo, only a lot stronger. With Ryo, he had only wanted to inflict pain, but now he wanted to kill. No more games were to be played.

"Looks like this is it, doesn't it?" Sage asked. The others could only nod in agreement.

stststst

Ryo jumped between his friends and the armor's sure-kill. He pulled his kanji orb out of his pocket and threw it at the energy ball in front of Soylaberst's chest. "FLARE UP NOW!" he shouted just before the lightning hit him. Ryo bit down on a scream and held his ground, feet digging into the ground beneath his bare feet. He refused to let it get passed him to the others.

stststst

The other Ronins watched desperately as Ryo was hit by the blast and as he was shocked. Once the call had ended, their leader's body fell to the ground, not moving. They also watched as Ryo's kanji orb hit the ball in front of the blood-red armor, causing it to explode. Soylaberst fell to the ground with a scream; the other two armors rushed to his side.

They could feel the spell, which Soylaberst had placed upon them, leave suddenly. Rowen was the first one to his feet, running towards Ryo, with the others right behind him. He watched as the Wildfire kanji orb appeared in Ryo's hand that lay limp on the ground.

"This isn't over, Ronins. We will get revenge!" Ky yelled.

"You were lucky Wildfire saved you, but next time you won't be so lucky!" Zual threatened, then disappeared with the other two.

Rowen turned his attention back to his friend. He knelt down and placed two fingers on Ryo's throat searching for a pulse only to discover... "He's not breathin'!" he shouted.

"Do something!" Kento and Sai yelled.

"Move!" Sage barked and pushed the others out of his way. Once he put his hands on Ryo's body, his armor began to glow, which spread into Ryo. Sage's kanji symbol started to glow on his forehead as well. Then the others began to glow, lending Sage their power.

"Courtesy."

"Intelligence."

"Justice."

"Trust."

After a few seconds, Rowen had to grab Sage's shoulders to keep him from falling on top of Ryo. The Warrior of Halo lent against his friend feeling very drained. "I could only heal the damage from the last blow. I'm not strong enough," he whispered.

The others looked at him and nodded slowly in understanding. Then their eyes went back to Ryo when they heard him gasp for air.

"Sounds like it was enough t' save 'im, Sage!" Rowen exclaimed with joy and patted the blonde's shoulder. Sage smiled and nodded.

They shed their armors and crowded around their fallen friend. Sai gently turned him over on his back and laid Ryo's head in his lap. Ryo's eyes fluttered open half way, and looked around at his friends. His vision was blurred, but he could tell it was them.

"Guys?" he asked in a hoarse whisper, before he passed out.

"Ryo!" Sai shouted, and looked at the others for help.

"We have t' get 'im t' the hospital, _now_!" Rowen ordered.

Whiteblaze approached them and nuzzled Ryo's hair before Kento gently picked him up. They ran to the van, loaded up, and rushed towards the hospital.

stststst

"Is he still breathin'?" Rowen asked as Kento ran another red light.

"Yes, but it's getting slower," Sage answered from his place in the back beside the Ronin of Virtue.

"Step on it, Kento!" Sai exclaimed.

"I'm already pushing it. She can't go any faster and be safe," Kento said gently. He knew his best friend was worried. Sai hated fighting and seeing people getting hurt. It being one of his friends just sent him into an even worse worrying fit.

"I know, gomen. It's just…" the British boy trailed off, not really knowing how to finish.

"He'll be okay, Sai. I know he will. Ryo can live through anything." The young boy's faith in his hero made the others smile; but Yuli just didn't understand that even the strongest people in the world could lose a fight. Though they all hoped that this fight wouldn't be the one to cause their leader's downfall.

Sage looked out the window to see Whiteblaze running along side the van. He shook his head gently. Then he turned his attention back to his friend lying beside him. Ryo was covered with blood, cuts, and bruises. His raven hair was matted down with sweat and blood. His normally tanned skin was pale, almost matching Sage's own. The blond could see where the chains had been around his ankles and wrists due to the rawness of the flesh. 'Please be okay, Ryo. Please.'

The van came to a sudden halt and everyone quickly got out. They made Whiteblaze get in so he wouldn't be seen by anyone. Besides, he wasn't allowed in the hospital anyway. Kento held Ryo close as he ran through the doors that Sage and Sai were holding open. Mia, Rowen, and Yuli followed close behind him.

"Help us!" Yuli screamed.

"We need a doctor!" Sage added. He had calmed down and now was able to act normally. Three nurses and two doctors ran over, taking Ryo's limp body away from Kento and placing him on a stretcher before running him into the emergency room.

The other Ronins, along with Mia and Yuli, watched as he was taken from their sights. Then the boys went to wash the blood off of their hands. Once they were done with that, they silently went to the waiting room, found Mia and Yuli, and set down. Yuli was curled up in Mia's lap trying not to cry.

Fifteen minutes later a voice asked, "Are you the one's who brought the boy in?"

Rowen looked up to see that it was a nurse. "Yeah, we brought 'im in," he answered.

"Would you mind filling this out?" she asked, handing them a clipboard.

Sage took it and the pen she offered. "How is he?"

"They don't know. He's in the OR right now. From the way he looked, I'd say you'll have a long wait," she replied gently. "I'll be around if you need me. Once you're done with the form, hand it to Suki." She pointed a finger to a curly red head behind the desk. "My name is Akuji."

"Okay guys, you heard her; we'll be here for a while," Mia began. "Rowen, why don't you take Kento, Yuli, and Whiteblaze back to the house. Drop Whiteblaze off; he can't stay in the van, and get some cash and a pair of clothes for everyone."

Rowen and Kento nodded in agreement. They didn't want to leave, but they had to. Besides, Yuli needed to get away for a while. Kento picked the boy up and walked beside Rowen as they left the hospital. After they got in the van, Yuli sat down next to the tiger.

"Listen, Whiteblaze," Rowen began, "Ah know ya want t' stay wif Ryo, but ya can't. Animals aren't allowed in th'ah. And ya can't stay in the van 'cause people would get suspicious." He looked at the tiger for the next part. "Gomen, but ya'll have t' stay at home."

Whiteblaze looked away and whined, dropping his ears to his head.

"Don't worry, Whiteblaze, Ryo will be fine. And besides, we'll be with him," Kento added from behind the wheel.

Yuli looked at the tiger, which lowered its head and growled softly. Not much later they were at the mansion, and Rowen opened the side door. Whiteblaze jumped out and quickly ran for the trees.

"Whiteblaze!" Yuli yelled as he got out of the van. "Come back!"

"Let 'im go, Yuli. He needs time t' 'imself. Ryo was 'is family. Is. Ah mean, _is_ 'is family," Rowen corrected himself. "He'll be okay. Now let's go get ev'ahthing and get back t' the hospital."

stststst

Meanwhile, Whiteblaze ran through the forest towards the cabin. He wanted to be in a place that smelt of his charge. Being in the cabin would be the closest thing he would be able to get.

stststst

It had been two hours since the three boys had left, and the other three had filled out the form, gave it back, and sat there in silence, looking at the floor. Kento, Rowen, and Yuli came in and saw their friends off in their own little worlds, getting a little scared with the looks on the others' faces.

"Sage?" Rowen asked gently as he shook his friend's shoulder.

"Huh? Wha-" Sage looked up to see Rowen staring at him and snapped back in to reality. "Hey."

"Any word?"

Sage just shook his head as the others sat down. The next three hours were spent waiting for information on Ryo's condition. They sat in complete silence, except for Yuli asking if Ryo was going to be okay every now and then, or when Kento would ask if anyone wanted something when he made a trip to the smack machine. The funny thing was that Kento never came back with any food in his hands, or crumbs on his clothing.

It was after the three hours that a doctor approached the group. "Excuse me, but are you with Mr. Sanada?" he asked.

Sage and Rowen jumped out of their chairs, while the others just jerked their heads up to look at the middle-aged man in a doctors outfit.

"Yes," Sage answered. "Is he okay?"

"Please come to my office," he answered.

The group exchanged looks then followed the man to his office down the hall. They entered the small room and took seats; Mia and Sai sat in the chairs, Kento, Rowen, and Yuli sat on the couch, and Sage remained standing by the wall. The doctor sat down behind his desk and looked at them very seriously.

"May I asked what happened to him?" the doctor asked. He watched as they exchanged looks again then they all found the floor interesting.

"We were suppose to meet at my house two or three days ago, but Ryo never showed. We finally decided today that we needed to find him; he was like that when we did," Mia answered.

The doctor shook his head, taking in what she said. He picked up a folder and started to flip through it. "And where is his family. Are any of you related to him?"

"His dad's out of the country. We're all he has. There is noone else," Sage replied. "Is he going to make it?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, on our way up we lost him, but managed to get him back. Then we lost him four more times on the operating table. The last time it took us longer; we almost gave up. Right before I was about to call his time-of-death, his heart started beating again. He's lost a lot of blood and had some internal bleeding, but we took care of it. He has several cracked ribs, and a number of other fractured bones." He stopped to let it all sink in, seeing tears in all their eyes, but they were trying to be strong. He got out from behind his desk and stood between the couch and chairs. "Mr. Sanada's blood pressure is very low. He's in a coma right now. More than likely, he won't make it through the night. I'm sorry," he added.

Kento sprang up from his seat and grabbed the doctor's shirt. The doctor's eyes grew large; he was truly scared of what the boy might do to him. "Don't say that! You don't even know him!" Kento shouted as he shook the man.

Sai and Rowen grabbed Kento and pried him off the doctor.

"Calm down, Kento," Sai said in a soothing voice.

"It's okay. We know Ryo'll pull through and that's all that matt'ahs," Rowen added.

No one bothered to apologize to the doctor. They all had wanted to shake some sense into the man, but Kento had beaten them to it.

"We want to see him," Sage said, looking straight into the man's eyes.

"Of course. But only one person at a time." The doctor led them out of the room and down the hall. When they reached Ryo's room the man looked at Yuli and shook his head. "You can't go in, I'm afraid. Children aren't allowed in the rooms."

"But I want to see Ryo!" Yuli cried.

"He'll be okay, Yuli. If it'll make you feel better, I'll stay out here with you."

"Ya sur'ah, Mia?" Rowen asked.

"Yes. You guys can go. We'll stay out here."

"So who wants to go first?" Sai asked.

"Ah will," Rowen answered. The others agreed, and watched as the Ronin of Strata entered the room. Once inside, Rowen let the door shut softly, as if he were afraid to disturb the person in the bed even though he knew they couldn't hear him at the moment. He walked over to the bed and began to cry as he seen his friend's condition. Ryo had bandages all over his body. The doctors hadn't even bothered to put a hospital gown on him; they just put on a pair of shorts. Bruises were visible where there were no bandages. He had a bluish-purple bruise on the left side of his face. One could tell he was dehydrated, and he hadn't eaten in days. His lips were purple, and they were slightly parted.

The blue-haired boy fell into the chair beside the bed, watching his friend's chest rise and fall. "Why, Ryo?" he began. "Why do they always have t' pick on ya? It can't just be 'cause ya have the Inferno. That can't be the only reason." He clenched his teeth and squeezed his fists tighter. He was so angry; with himself, with their new enemy, with everything. Taking in a deep breath, he tried to relax himself, then let out a big sigh.

"Ya can't die, Buddy. Ya we'ah my first friend. Ya taught me t' allow people t' see beyond the genius; t' show 'um the real me. Ya'ah one of my best friends." Rowen paused, thinking about the last part. "No. We'ah mo'ah like broth'ahs, Ryo. Especially ya and me. Ah learned so much from ya when we went t' save the oth'ahs. Ya nev'ah gave up, o'ah doubted any of us. Please don't leave us, Ryo, tell ya'ah mom t' wait. We need ya. Don't go!"

stststst

Sai entered the room next, quickly taking a seat next to the bed. He looked up at his friend and tears began to roll down his face. "You better pull through, Ryo. I found a new recipe you still have to sample," he joked half-heartedly, more tears running down his face. "I remember when we went to the beach a while back. It was that summer after we became friends, remember? Anyway, I talked you into getting on a surfboard. Boy was that the wrong thing to do. I thought for sure you were going to drown," he chuckled at the memory. "That wave knocked all the air out of you, didn't it? Sage and me had to go in to save your ass. I think next time we'll just build a sand castle," he added before breaking down in tears, laying his head on the bed next to Ryo's hand. "Don't give up, Ryo. Please fight it," he cried. When he calmed down, the Ronin of Torrent wiped his tears away and exited the room.

stststst

Sage quietly came into the room for his turn to visit the unconscious Ronin of Wildfire. He lent against the wall, just watching his friend for a few minutes. He was trying to think of a way to put his feelings into words. Finally, he walked over and sat in the chair next to the bed. "I'm sorry I couldn't heal you more, Ryo. I'm just not strong enough right now, but I know you'll pull through. I've never doubted you." The Ronin of Halo took a breath to calm his nerves; he had began to shake and needed to wait until it passed before he continued. "You know," he started, "I think you're still the only one that knows why I flirt with all those girls. Why not, ne? They're flirting with me anyway; why not boost their self-esteem a bit? I mean, it's not like I've ever done anything with them; I'm only fourteen for crying out loud! But…You have to pull through, Ryo. Who else is going to help me with my kendo? You actually bring a challenge, did you know that? So, please, don't walk out on me." He whipped the tears out of his eyes and left the room.

stststst

Kento hesitated at the door. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to see Ryo again. He just wanted things to be back to normal; with everyone healthy and the others picking on him about his appetite. Even though it sometimes got annoying, it was better than this. He took a deep breath and entered the dark room. After he closed the door his gaze fell on Ryo, and tears streamed down his face. He walked over, sat in the chair, and grabbed Ryo's hand up in both of his. Kento looked at his friend's bruised fingers and the bandage around his wrist. He put Ryo's hand, still wrapped in his own, to his forehead.

"They will pay for this, Ryo," he growled. "Look at you, Man." Kento put their hands back on the bed, his left hand left Ryo's and moved up to move the locks from Ryo's face, careful not to touch the bandage. "Look at us. We went to save _you_, but you ended up saving _us_. We failed you, Ryo. I'm so sorry," he cried. Just as suddenly as the tears appeared, they vanished from the Warrior of Justice's eyes. "I'm going after those bastards. I'll kill them all on my own," he vowed.

Then he felt pressure around his hand.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" he exclaimed, jerking his hand away as he stood, which caused the chair to fall over.

"Kento! What's wrong?" Sai asked as he and the others ran into the room, seeing Kento against the wall with a look of pure shock on his face. They all looked at Ryo, who was exactly the same as when they had seen him.

"He…he…he squeezed my hand," Kento gasped.

"Really! That's a good thing, right?" Yuli asked. He had run in with Mia, not wanting to be left in the dark anymore.

"It's just a reflex," the doctor replied as he entered the room.

"No, it wasn't 'just a reflex'!" Kento yelled. "He heard me!"

The doctor shook his head, "He can't hear you, young man."

"Yes, he-" Kento began.

"Look doc, Kento doesn't mean any disrespect. Ryo's very close to all of us, and Kento tends to get a little defensive," Sage said politely.

"Could we all be alone fo'ah a while?" Rowen asked.

"Five minutes, but then you'll have to leave," the doctor said before leaving the room.

"Guys, I know he heard me. He had to of," Kento defended himself.

"Repeat it then, Kento. Prove that he heard you," Sage suggested.

"…I can't."

"Ya have t', Buddy," Rowen explained. "It's the only way t' see if he's okay."

"We won't judge you, Kento," Sai added. "We're all friends here, and right now one of them needs your help. It's the only way."

Kento nodded and went back to Ryo's side. He picked up the chair and sat down in it. He took up Ryo's hand once again in his right hand. His face hardened again as he repeated his words, "I'm going after those bastards. I'll kill them all on my own."

Ryo squeezed his hand, only tighter then before. He released his grip and allowed Kento to still hold his hand. Tears came out of everyone's eyes. The others made a circle around Kento and Ryo. Rowen looked at the heart monitor and saw his friend's heart rate was getting slower.

"Guys," he said softly, "Ah think somethin's wrong."

The others followed his gaze to the heart monitor, to see Ryo's heart beat flat-line, making a sharp ringing sound in the room.

"RYO!" they all yelled in perfect unison.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

I'm mean, aren't I. Leaving you guys with yet _another _cliffhanger! I love my work. :giggles: I wonder what will happen? Hmmm. Guess you'll just have to wait, ne?

And I don't know jack about hospitals, even though I've spent a lot of time in one. Not because of me, but my family members. Anyway, just go with it. It's a fanfic anyway. And what I say goes.


	5. Getting It Together

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't have anything new to say, so I'll just let you go read the fic. I know that's what you're here for anyway. Enjoy!

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 5: Getting It Together

Whiteblaze nudged the cabin door open, walked in, and then shut the door. He made his way to Ryo's room, hopped up on the bed, and thought about the first time he had seen the little black-headed boy.

xlxlxlxl

It was winter up in the mountains; snow covering most of the ground that the trees couldn't protect. The white tiger blended in with the scenery, his stripes breaking up his full figure. The tiger was looking for a place to lie down away from the chilling winds. A cave wasn't too far away, where he knew he would find shelter. Stepping inside, he shook himself to get the snow off his fur. He turned, facing the cave's entrance, and sat down, his eyes watching the snow fall to the ground.

A few seconds after he began to dry off, a cry sounded through the air. His ears perked up to hear if he could pinpoint the location of its owner. It sounded again, and the tiger stood up, leaving the shelter of the cave, and ran in its direction. The wind could have carried the cry miles from the owner, but the tiger was determined to seek it out. He knew it was a human, for only they could make that sound. It was between a wail and a grumble; full of emotions that were unknown to the tiger. The human making the noise sounded lost, scared, and was very sad.

Pushing his head through two bushes, the tiger spotted a small boy, around the age of four, who was curled up in a ball by a tombstone. The tiger knew humans used those things to mark where their dead were buried. If the boy was sitting by one and crying, then the person had to have been someone important to the little one. The only problem the tiger had with the scene was that the boy was dressed in a thin pair of pants and a short-sleeved shirt; not the clothing he saw most humans wearing in this weather. So not only was the boy grieving for a loved one, but he was probably freezing cold.

Leaving the cover of the bushes the tiger slowly approached the boy. As if the boy could feel his presence, the boy's whole body jerked around to confront the intruder. Brown and tiger blue eyes locked on to one another, neither showing any fear of being caught. The boy watched as the tiger continued to come closer, never taking his eyes off the animal. When its wet nose rubbed against his cheek, the boy closed his eyes and flung his arms around the large neck of the beast. He buried his face into the fur and continued to cry. The tiger did his best to shield the boy from the wind, wrapping one of his arms and his head around the boy's slender frame, as if he was returning the embrace.

"Why d-did she ha-ha-have t' go?" the boy wailed into the fur. "Ah didn't me-mean t' ma-make her go 'way! Ah'm s-so sor-sorry. Ah di-didn't mean t-too."

The tiger drew back from the crying child and licked the boy's cheek. His tongue may have been like sandpaper, but it was a great comfort to the boy. The tiger nuzzled the boy, stood up, and began to walk away.

"No! D-don't go! Please," the boy called and clung to the tiger's neck. "Please don't leave me." It was only a whisper, but it held so much emotion within the simple words. Looking into the tiger's eyes, the boy quickly understood that the tiger had wanted him to follow. The boy didn't know why, he felt fine and wanted to stay with his mother. But still, the boy followed as the tiger walked further into the woods. Once they entered a cave, the boy realized that most of his body was numb. He had been out in the cold for so long that he hadn't noticed his body was affected.

The tiger had lied down near the entrance, far enough away that the weather outside wasn't affecting him, and not too deep that he couldn't hear what was going on outside their shelter. The boy curled up near the mid-section of the beast, his face already buried in its fur, taking in the warmth the huge body was giving off. The tiger lent over and nuzzled the boy's hair with his cheek. When he pulled back, two tiger blue eyes were locked onto his.

"I'm Ryo," the boy whispered. "Thank you for h-helping me." Ryo sniffled and lifted a hand to whip his face. "I wanted to…visit my mom. Sh-she died a few mon-months ago. I-I wanted to visit her." More tears rolled down his small face, and into the tiger's fur. "I miss her so much."

The tiger licked the tears away and nuzzled the boys face again. 'I know you miss her, but it'll be alright,' he thought.

It was late in the night when the storm quit. The tiger gently nudged Ryo awake, and had the boy climb onto his back. He didn't know how he knew, but he made his way to a cabin within the woods. Ryo had fallen asleep during the ride, so the tiger slid the boy off his back as easily as he could without waking him. He licked the boys face once more and turned to go. Once he was near the tree line, the tiger heard the door to the cabin open. A tall man looked out and around the area.

"RYO!" he shouted when he looked down, only to see his son lying on the ground near his door. Aoi ran to his son, dropped down to his knees, and gathered Ryo up in his arms. He felt his son's head, and then looked around the area to see if anyone was there.

The tiger stood tall, looking the man in the eye when his eyes fell upon him. Aoi's eyes grew larger, then he blinked, and then blinked again when there wasn't anything there.

From the safety of the trees, the tiger watched as the man lifted Ryo and carried him into the cabin. As the tiger began to walk away, he felt a pull from the other direction. He could tell there was something special about Ryo, something important. He would just have to keep an eye on the youth, just to see if he was right about the boy.

lxlxlxlx

Whiteblaze snapped out of his thoughts feeling something was terribly wrong. He ran out the door and headed for the hospital. He was going to be with Ryo whether the others liked it or not.

He approached the hospital a couple hours later, at full speed. He could feel Ryo slipping. He used his senses to find his charge. When he heard the others yell Ryo's name, he jumped through the window; his ears filling with the ringing from the heart monitor.

The others looked at him in shock, but he just shoved Rowen and Sai aside and put his front paws on the bed. He nuzzled Ryo's black hair, licked his bruised face, nudged his hand, and then, finally, let out a remorseful cry, tears rolling down his cheeks as he laid his head on Ryo's chest.

"Blaze?" a hoarse, weak voice asked. The ringing in the room had stopped and was replaced by the steady rhythm of Ryo's heart.

The others crowded around the bed, with tears of joy streaming down their faces. They saw Ryo's eyes, half open, looking around the room. A gleam of happiness came to his eyes as he gave them a weak smile, which faded as he passed out.

"Ryo!" Yuli exclaimed.

"It's okay, Yuli," Rowen reassured him.

"He's just too weak to stay awake long," Sage explained.

Whiteblaze purred as he laid his head back down on Ryo's chest, listening to his lungs and heart. The peace of the room was shattered when the doctor stormed in. His eyes tripled in size and he jumped back when he saw the tiger standing by the bed.

"What is that thing doing in here!" he demanded.

"He just brought Ryo back!" Kento shouted.

"Well, he'll have to leave, now."

A groan came from Ryo's direction, causing the others to hesitate.

"You can't. Ryo needs something he's most familiar with right now," Sai explained.

"And that's Whiteblaze," Kento added.

"No, right now he needs rest. Now get that tiger out of here," the doctor demanded.

The four Ronins grabbed Whiteblaze and pulled him out the door. They now understood why Ryo got so exhausted while trying to give the tiger a bath.

Inside the room, Ryo's heart stopped again once the tiger left the room. Ryo hadn't really known what was going on. One minute he could feel his friend, then the next minute he couldn't; and his heart gave up on him as the fear took over. He knew he had to regain hope and the will to live, but he needed support. He needed the one he had always relied on. He'd just left, leaving Ryo alone in the darkness.

"RYO! NOOOOO!" Yuli cried and buried his head in Mia's lap, while she could only look at the doctor in horror. The doctor rushed over to Ryo and tried to save him, but he knew the boy was going to die no matter what he did.

Whiteblaze ran back into the room and threw the doctor out of his way. He began to nuzzle Ryo's hair just like he used to. He had to let Ryo know that he was there, and he would always be there. The other Ronins entered right behind the tiger. They helped the doctor get to his feet, then watched as the tiger efforts to wake their leader began to work. Ryo's heartbeat replaced the ringing from the monitor.

Rowen looked at the doctor and said, "Whiteblaze stays."

The doctor nodded, checked the machines, and then left the room.

The group allowed tears of joy to flow from their eyes as they gathered around their friend, knowing he was going to pull through.

stststst

Ky and Zual watched over their companion, who was hanging on by a thread. They couldn't believe how careless he had been with the Ronins. He should have known not to underestimate them. The three of them had heard of everything the Ronins had gone through with Talpa. It had made them stronger, more determined; so why had Soylaberst insisted on playing games with Wildfire, instead of killing him at the grave sight?

Though it had been fun, making him break, seeing the life leave him while he was still alive, hearing his cries of pain as they took their time toying with him and keeping him conscious when he didn't want to be.

Soylaberst was right, this mortal was strong. In a way, despite the pain his past had caused him, it had also made him stronger, giving him the stubbornness to keep fighting, even if he would loose in the end. But Wildfire hadn't lost yet; and that was why they had toyed with him. They didn't want to just tell everyone they had killed the Inferno wearer. No, that wasn't good enough. They wanted to gloat that they had _broken_ its wearer. Then they would really be feared.

They looked at their leader again. 'Wildfire will pay for this,' they both thought.

Ky and Zaul preformed a ritual so that part of their life force was given to their fallen comrade. Now all they had to do was wait for him to regain his strength. They would need his power to finish off Wildfire. They wouldn't take that victory away from him. After all, it was his plan to kill the person who wore the strongest armor ever to have been created. And it could continue to get stronger, but that depended on the wearer.

Ky walked out of the room and sat in a chair by a table.

'Soylaberst wanted to see how strong the boy was,' he thought. 'Well then, the test isn't over, but Halo might get in the way by healing his precious leader. I'll put a stop to that.' He got up and walked over to a window. 'And I'll give Wildfire something to remember me by.' He laughed hysterically as he thought of the wound in the boy's left side, and at what he was going to do to it. He had to wait until the boy was alone or the others would get in his way.

stststst

After the window was fixed in the room, the Ronins, Mia, Yuli, and Whiteblaze decided to get some sleep. It was late and they were all exhausted from the day's events. They had retrieved a bed, blankets, and pillows from the nurses. Mia and Yuli occupied the bed. Rowen sat on the floor, but had his pillow in a chair, which he was leaning on. Sage slept against the cabinet by the bed. Sai leaned on the bed itself, using it as a back brace, while Kento used Sai's lower legs as a pillow and was holding his pillow as if it were a teddy bear. Whiteblaze slept with his head by Ryo's hand. He wanted to be as close as possible, so Ryo wouldn't think he wasn't there and have his heart quit again.

The next morning, while the others were still asleep, Ryo's eyes fluttered open. He felt uneasy inside, and had pulled himself out of the deep sleep his body was still craving. His vision cleared and he looked around the room. At first he didn't comprehend where he was, then it hit him and he shot up into a sitting position. His pulse increased to almost a dangerous level in a matter of seconds; his breathing became erratic, which hurt more due to the oxygen machine. Ryo yanked the tubes out of his nose and gasped for air. His chest flared from the sudden intake of air, and he began to shake uncontrollably, his eyes widening.

Whiteblaze woke up with a start and looked at Ryo. He saw his friend was scared and tried to comfort him; nuzzling his hair which was now covered in sweat. The others woke up when the tiger let out a frustrated whine. They looked up at Ryo, saw his distress, jumped up from their positions on the floor, and hurried to help him. Whiteblaze stepped back, giving them the room they needed.

"We have t' get 'im t' calm down or he'll have a heart attack!" Rowen exclaimed.

"Sai, go get the doctor, and hurry!" Sage ordered.

Sai ran out of the room without hesitation. Kento pulled Yuli and Mia away when they began to cry. Rowen looked around frantically, trying to find something to help Ryo. Sage finally grabbed both of Ryo's shoulders gently-since they were bruised- yet firmly, to try to stop the shaking.

The doctor ran into the room with Sai close behind. He had a syringe in his hand, which he quickly plunged into Ryo's arm. Ryo flinched then went limp, his heartbeat and breathing slowed back down. His body slumped over Sage's arms, which lowered him back into the bed.

"Thank you," Sage and Rowen said. The others nodded in agreement, still too shocked to really say anything.

"You're welcome," the doctor replied before he left the room.

Whiteblaze approached the bed and licked Ryo's face, but he didn't get any reaction. He looked up a Rowen as if begging him to wake Ryo.

"He's 'sleep, boy," Rowen answered. "It's the best thin' fo'ah 'im right now. 'is body needs this."

"He's right, Whiteblaze," Sage admitted. "As much as we want to see him sitting up and talking to us, we have to let him rest."

Everyone grew quiet and watched Ryo sleep and trying to figure out what had caused him to react like that. It was Mia who broke the silence.

"Yuli, you're suppose to go home this morning!" she exclaimed.

"But I want to stay with Ryo! Please?" the young boy begged.

"Ryo's going to be out of it for a while, Yuli. That was some pretty strong stuff the doctor gave him," Sai replied.

"Yeah, little man. And besides, I'm sure Ryo would want you to get away from here for a while," Kento added.

"Some of us will probably go home, too, Yuli," Mia agreed. "We could all use some time away from here."

"But-" Yuli began to protest.

"We'll come an' tell ya if the'ah's any change," Rowen said softly.

"You promise?"

"Yes, Yuli. We'll call you," Sage assured him.

Yuli looked around the room and saw they meant it. "Okay, if that's what Ryo would want," he agreed.

"We'll be back. Can you two handle watching him?" Sai asked.

Sage and Rowen nodded. "How much trouble can he be like this?" Rowen joked while pointing at their slumbering friend.

"With him you never know," Sai chuckled. Then he, Mia, Kento, and Yuli left the room to take Yuli home. Rowen and Sage looked at each other then at Ryo.

"Whadda we do now?"

"I don't know, Ro."

Rowen watched as Sage went over to the bed and stared at their leader's broken body. The Ronin of Halo was usually a wall for the others to lean on, just like Ryo. Sage prided himself on keeping his composure in every situation, even though he sometimes allowed them to slip when he's trying to knock some sense into Kento. He also joked around with the others. So Rowen knew the blond wasn't always trying to be Mr. Ice; he couldn't. At least not around his friends. With them he could let loose and not worry about anything. But now it looked like the wall was desperately trying to stay standing.

Sage brushed the unruly raven bangs out of Ryo's face. He couldn't believe this was happening. How could they have let this happen? Why didn't they feel something was really wrong? Wasn't their bond strong enough that they should have felt something this big? His thoughts were cut off when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sage turned his head to see Rowen looking at him with a worried expression. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ya okay?"

The blond gave a weak smile and a small nod. "If only I were stronger, Ro. But-"

"Sage, Ryo would want ya t' reserve ya'ah pow'ah. Don't ya think?"

"I know, but if I could, he wouldn't be lying in that bed struggling to stay alive. If I healed him, he would be swore and sleep for a day or two, then be back on his feet. But I _can't_, and it's not fair. I should be able to do something instead of standing here just watching and waiting to see what's going to happen!"

"Ah wish Ah had ya'ah pow'ah t' heal, Sage. But Ah don't. All Ah can do _is_ watch. Ah'd give anythin' t' help 'im. Ya know Ah would. But all we can do is be he'ah fo'ah 'im. Protect 'im, just like he would do fo'ah us."

Sage bowed his head in defeat. He knew Rowen was right. The blue-headed boy usually was full of wise words and understanding. He didn't let the blond down this time.

"Thanks, Ro."

Rowen smiled and squeezed his shoulder. He then went to take care of arranging Ryo's sheets around the boy's body. Sage helped out by adjusting his pillow. Once they made sure Ryo was comfortable they set about cleaning the room.

stststst

When Kento, Sai, and Mia returned from dropping Yuli off at his house, they noticed Ryo was still under the effects of the shot. The tubes for the oxygen machine were back in place, but what worried them was that his heartbeat was a bit slower. It was like what had happened that morning had taken a lot out of him.

Sai walked over and brushed the locks, which had fallen into Ryo's face, back into place. 'Rest up, my friend,' he thought, and then sat down on the floor next to Sage and ate his breakfast.

"So what do we do when he gets out of here? Take him to one of our places?" Kento asked.

"Well, we tried to reach his father while you guys were gone; but he was unavailable. He doesn't even know Ryo's here," Sage said.

"That's probably fo'ah the best. We don't want t' get ou'ah parents involved with any of this," Rowen replied.

"So what do we do?" Kento asked again.

"I think you should move in with me," Mia answered quickly. "You'd have the advantage; you'll be together, and out of the city, so no one will get caught in the crossfire. You just need to get your parent's approval."

"Don't worry, Mia, I'm sure our parents will let us move in for a while. It's not like we haven't lived there before," Sai assured her.

"They thought we we'ah on that 'trip', Sai," Rowen reminded him.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

"Come on, guys!" Kento shouted. "Just set it in your mind that you're going and your parents can't change it."

Everyone's mouths dropped open in response.

"Kento! Ah didn't know ya could think that way!" Rowen laughed.

"Yes, I can, Rowen. And besides, if that doesn't work, leave a note and sneak out of the house."

Everyone shook their heads and looked away from him.

"And here I thought you had an intelligent answer to our problem," Sage said dryly.

"Intelligence is Rowen's department," Kento said without thinking what the blond had said.

stststst

Rowen and Sage decided to ask their parents first. They walked down the road in silence; Sage not even bothering to stop and flirt with the girls-who tried to get the blonde's attention- on their way. This meant one of two things: Sage wasn't interested in them, or he was just upset about something. Rowen would put all his money on the latter. But Sage wasn't worried about Ryo; he was worried about how his parents might react to the whole thing.

The two friends split up as Rowen went into the University and Sage headed for the dojo.

Rowen knocked on his father's laboratory door when he reached it. He wasn't suppose to just walk in, he had to knock just in case his father was in the middle of something that couldn't have extra light. He could hear his father working so he banged on the door even harder.

"Come in!" Genichirou shouted.

Rowen entered the room and went to stand by his father.

"Oh, Rowen!" he replied with a smile on his face. "Ah thought ya'd still be gone."

"Uh, yeah. Ah came t' talk t' ya 'bout that. Dad…Ah'm goin' t' move in wif Mia an' the guys fo'ah a while. Ah-"

"Ah don't think so. Goin' t' visit is one thin', movin' in is anoth'ah. It's not acceptable. Five young teenag'ahs an' a college student? No," Genichirou argued.

"Dad, ya didn't even let me explain. Ah have t' go. Ryo's-"

"Ryo can take care of 'imself. Ah know he can."

Rowen slammed his fist down on the table. "He's in the hospital, Dad! And 'is fath'ah aint comin'! We can't get 'hold of 'im!" he shouted. He was on the verge of tears, but he held them back.

Genichirou grew quiet, looking at his son, and knowing just how much Ryo meant to him. Ryo was the first true friend Rowen had ever had.

"Dad, please und'ahstand. Ryo-"

"Is like a broth'ah? Ah can see that, Rowen," Genichirou cut him off. "Alright. Ya can go. Just be careful, and tell Ryo t' get well soon."

"Thanks, Dad. Ah'll be by t' get my stuff lat'ah," Rowen smiled then left the room, heading for the dojo.

stststst

Sage entered the dojo, quickly looking around for his parents. His father should have been off work today, if the blond was correct. He spotted them in the office and headed over. They started to walk out when they saw him, but Sage stopped them.

"I need to talk to you; the both of you," he said as he entered the office. He was surprised they had followed without saying anything. Instead, they sat back down in their chairs and waited for him to speak. Sage took a deep breath; to him, Talpa was nothing compared to his parents. "I have decided to move in with Mia and –" he began.

"Nani?" his father, Masaharu, exclaimed.

"I don't think so!" Natsuko added.

"Please, just listen," Sage begged.

"You're _not_ moving in with some eighteen year old woman," Masaharu said.

"It's nothing like that!" Sage exclaimed. He knew he was a flirt, but he would never do anything with any of those girls. They lacked what he wanted, and he was too young to know what he wanted, but he knew they didn't have it. Surely his parents knew that, didn't they?

"Then what would _you_ call it?" his father demanded.

'Okay, maybe they don't,' Sage thought bitterly. "Being there for a friend who needs me," he said calmly as he met his father's eyes. He noticed his parent's hesitation and took advantage. "Ryo's in the hospital. He didn't meet us at Mia's like we had agreed. We found him and he was almost dead; he was beaten badly. Please, I have to move in with Mia and the guys for a while. We haven't been able to reach Mr. Sanada, and Ryo's going to need us, all of us. I have to go."

Natsuko walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, while Masaharu just continued to stare at him. "Is he okay?" Natsuko asked.

"I don't know. We had to tranquilize him earlier. He would have had a heart attack if we hadn't," Sage answered. He looked at his father. "Go and see him, then you'll understand that I'm right."

"Sage-"

"Dad, please. If you don't believe me, go and see him."

His parents agreed to go with him to the hospital. Natsuko was proud that her son actually stood up to his father, and didn't let up any. He was mature for his age and so smart; not like his friend Rowen, but he had a good head on his shoulders. Masaharu was surprised at how his son had acted. Part of him was proud that his son was mature enough to handle the situation the way he had; but the other half was angry that the boy hadn't listened to him.

They waited for Rowen to arrive; and after Sage explained why his parents were driving them back, Masaharu drove to the hospital. Rowen led the way to the room Ryo was in, and Sage walked into the room with the blue-headed boy, leaving his parents outside.

"Hey, guys. How'd it go?" Kento asked.

"Affirmative," Rowen answered.

"My parents are here. They wouldn't agree, so I told them to come and see for themselves that he needs all of us," Sage replied. "Would you mind leaving them alone in here?"

"No, not at all," Sai smiled. Then he, Kento, Rowen, and Mia left the room, but Whiteblaze walked over to the corner and sat down. He wouldn't leave even if they tried to drag him out. Sage's parents entered and walked closer to the bed. Natsuko gasped and hugged her husband, burying her face in his shoulder. She didn't like seeing kids in this condition, or anyone for the matter. Masaharu bowed his head and touched Ryo's hand, saying a prayer for him.

Sage then looked at the occupant of the bed. Ryo looked broken, like one of the limp dolls his younger sister played with. You could put them in a position, and they still sagged. He didn't like the look of Ryo in the bed. The younger boy looked so vulnerable just lying there; and Ryo never looked vulnerable. Ryo was strong and ready for anything. One could count on him for anything, to come by to have a sword match, to drop in to cheer one up, or to hang out when asked. He was usually submissive to everyone and did what they wanted to do, but he could be demanding at times. He hardly asked anything of others. He was open minded to others and their opinions and really listened when they spoke against him. He had a bad temper when provoke to life, but he was getting better at controlling it. Ryo was one of his best friends; his inner circle. One of the few people who knew the real him and liked him for who he was, even though they where different as day and night. Both of them had the same goal though, to give everything their all. They just had a different way of getting there.

Sage snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his father looking at him. "You can move in with the others. You were right; Ryo does need all of you right now. Gomen," Masaharu said softly.

Sage just smiled and nodded, then watched as his parents left the room and the others came back in.

"Well?" Kento asked.

Again Sage just nodded, then turned back to the occupant of the bed.

stststst

Sai and Kento left shortly after Sage's parents, both making their way to the restaurant Kento's family owned. They figured their parents would crack if they both were there. They found Kento's mother near the register, with no customers around, so they decided it was a good time to ask. Sai stood back as Kento approached his mother. He was within hearing range, so he could jump in if his friend needed him.

"Hey, son. What are you doing back so soon?" Chun Li asked.

"I needed to ask you something," Kento smile innocently.

"And what would the question be?" she asked, eying him carefully.

"Can I move in with the guys at Mia's?"

Chun Li got a dumbfounded look on her face. "And why would you want to do that?"

"Ryo's been hospitalized, and, well, once he gets out he's gonna need us. His dad isn't coming home," Kento added. He knew his mother hated to hear of people getting hurt. "Please, Mom?"

Chun Li thought it over for a few minutes, then reluctantly agreed. "Alright, Kento. You can go for as long as you need to. I'll tell your father later," she said giving him a weak smile. She didn't like her family being separated for long, but she understood Kento was right. Ryo's father probably wasn't within reach, and Ryo didn't have any other family to take care of him. He was going to need his friends, and that included her son.

stststst

Kento and Sai headed for Sai's apartment complex. His mother was taking time off while Sayoko ran the pottery shop. They entered and began to take off their shoes.

"Mum?" Sai called.

"In here, hon!" Sora called from the living room. She watched as her son entered, followed by a heavier- built boy. "Hello, Kento. Why are you boy's back so soon?"

"Mum, you remember Ryo, right?" Said asked as he sat down beside her.

"The boy in the cabin? Yes, he's the sweetest little thing. How is he doing?"

"Well, Mum, he's in the hospital."

"Is he okay? What happened?" she asked, starting to panic.

"He's doing better, Mum. Calm down. He just got beaten up. We found him and took him to the hospital. He's recovering at the moment, but once he gets out he's going to need some help. He won't admit that, of course, but he's going to need us guys," Sai explained.

"What are you getting at, Sai? You want him to move in here?"

"No, Mum. I'm going to move in with guys at Mia's. It's big enough to house all of us."

"And then some," Kento piped in. He was tired of being left out of the conversation.

"I don't know…"Sora trailed off.

"Please, Mum. Ryo needs me. Who else is going to cook? Mia can't do everything. Plus, I have to go to keep Kento in line," Sai joked.

"Hey, that's not funny. I'm a big boy. I-"

"We know, we know!" the two Mouri's laughed.

"Please. Ryo needs us. Needs me. We're like brothers; we're there for each other, no matter what."

Sora saw the determination in his eyes, and she knew she had to let him go. "Just be careful, Sai."

"Thank you." Sai kissed her cheek, and then stood up.

"Don't worry, Ms. M. We can handle everything," Kento said as he and Sai left the apartment.

"See! What did I tell ya? Just have it set in your mind on what you want, and don't let anyone tell you differently," Kento smiled as they walked down the sidewalk. "I'm hungry."

"You would be. Don't you ever stop eating?"

"How long have you known me?" Kento asked seriously. "And you don't know the answer yet?"

Sai just shook his head as they stopped at a fast food place to grab a bite to eat, and pick up lunch for the others.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

What! No cliffhanger! How could I do this to you guys! And what happen to the torture?…Well, he did die once and had a panic attack, does that count?… Anyway, sorry for the lack of action in this part. But it had to be written. Gomen. Anyway, the next chapter spices things up a bit. :grins evilly: And I do believe I see four more armor bearers coming into play soon. Hmmm. I wonder what will happen? Wait and find out. AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW(!) PEOPLE!…please…

Oh, for those of you who noticed the Digimon Adventure character names, for the lack of my imagination, good for you. I like the thought of Yamato's parents being Sage's. Both boys are blond and it covers one of their eyes! So it works. J/k. And just to be safe, I don't own Digimon Adventure either.


	6. Ky's Gift

AUTHOR NOTE 1: I hate the name "The Ancient". It is stupid. So I'm going to use the Japanese name: Kaosu. I like it better.

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 6: Ky's Gift

Over the next two days the figure lying in the hospital bed remained motionless. The other Ronins had taken turns going home, packing up most of their room, and moving it all to the mansion. Rowen and Sage were still sharing one room, while Sai and Kento shared another. Whiteblaze, Sage, and Rowen were the only other occupants of the room at the moment; the other three were moving Kento into the house.

It was the fourth day of Ryo's hospitalization. His bruises were still the same shade they had been. The bandages that had been put on were removed, including the one around his forehead. The wound Ky had given him was just starting to show some improvement. The blood bags were also taken away, for Ryo no longer needed them.

They called Yuli every morning and night to let him know how his hero was doing. They knew he wanted to be there with them, but they thought it would be better if he waited and came to see Ryo when they took him to the mansion.

At the moment, Sage and Rowen were so engrossed in a game of cards that neither of them noticed the movement on the bed. Ryo's eyes slowly fluttered open; the light being too much to take in at once. The boy was very weak, even with all the sleep he had had, even if he wasn't fully at peace during it. He hated hospitals, and he wanted out of there. So he pushed the darkness away, knowing that he wouldn't get out of there unless the others _thought_ he was getting better.

He once again removed the tubes that were up his nose. He inhaled sharply, feeling his lungs burn. Whiteblaze heard him and jumped up to the bed. He nuzzled Ryo's hand affectionately, and Ryo returned the affection by giving him a weak smile and scratched him behind his ear. The tiger purred and licked Ryo's hand. He looked back up at Ryo, quickly seeing how scared he was. Whiteblaze understood. To Ryo this place was one of pain and loss. It had changed the boy's life forever.

Rowen and Sage stopped their game and walked over to Ryo, to see what was up with Whiteblaze. Smiles graced their faces when they notice their leader was awake, but they faded when they seen his eyes. Both boys could see the fear that had filled the tiger blue eyes. They could also tell he was fighting to stay awake.

"Ryo?" Rowen asked.

The boy in question looked up at them, and took another deep breath. "I…" he began. "I…want t'…go home."

"Don't worry, Buddy. Ya'ah goin' t' go home."

"Once you're feeling better and the doctor says-" Sage began.

"No…NOW!" Ryo demanded angrily, but his face quickly went sad. "I…I can't stay."

They saw the tears come to his eyes that refused to let fall. Ryo didn't like people to see him cry, even if they were his friends. It would only make them worry.

"Ryo?" Sage asked and put a comforting hand on Ryo's shoulder. He didn't know why Ryo wanted out so badly.

"Please," Ryo begged before he fell back into the darkness that was flooding his mind.

Whiteblaze nuzzled his charge's face, whipping the tears that had leaked out from the closed eyes. Sage whipped them from the other cheek since the tiger couldn't reach that side. Rowen continued to stare at his friend, his mind trying to work out what had happened, and why. All three jumped when the door opened.

"We finished moving Kento in," Sai said cheerfully as he closed the door behind him. "What's wrong?" he asked when he seen their faces.

"He woke up," Rowen mumbled.

"And he practically demanded we get him out of here," Sage added.

"He was so scared, ya guys. He had tea'hs in 'is eyes. But he's unconscious now."

"Come on. We're all going to the cafeteria. You, too, Whiteblaze. You need to move around some and get out of this room," Mia said.

The tiger let out a small growl of stubbornness.

"We'll be right down stairs, boy. He'll be okay," Kento assured him.

The tiger reluctantly nodded and followed them out room, leaving his charge alone in the dark room.

stststst

Ky watched from the rooftop of the next building. 'Good, he's alone. Finally. I thought they'd never leave. The fools,' he thought before vanishing. He appeared in the room beside Ryo's bed. He looked at the sleeping boy lying before him, completely vulnerable. The armor drew back the covers so he could look at Ryo's whole body. The boy was just wearing a pair of hospital shorts they had put him in when he had first arrived at the hospital. Ryo flinched, then adjusted to the new temperature of the room without his blanket. Ky smiled when he seen Ryo's legs were also covered with bruises and cuts.

The green armor moved to the left side of the bed and looked at the bandage over the wound it had created. It reached down and tore it off. The armor smiled as the boy let out a moan of discomfort and as his body jerked and pulled into itself to ease the pain away. Ky smiled wickedly as he placed his cold hand on Ryo's cheek and used his power to pulled Ryo out of the darkness he had just fallen into.

Ryo's eyes snapped open and for a moment he didn't know what was happening but then saw Ky. He tried to jerk his head away from the armor but his fear had taken over and he was frozen in place; making himself helpless to whatever the armor was planning to do to him.

Ky caressed Ryo's face gently, running his hand over the bruised cheek. He smiled at the fear in his victim's eyes. He moved his hand smoothly down to the boy's throat, wrapped his fingers around it, and then squeezed, causing Ryo to gasp.

Ryo's heartbeat increased, causing the monitor to go faster. Ky quickly grew annoyed with the noise and yanked the cords off Ryo's chest, then slammed his fist into the machine to shut it up. The force of hit sent the machine through the window. Ky released his grip on the boy, allowing him to breath again. Ryo inhaled sharply, which caused his chest to flare in pain. The armor put his hand back on Ryo's right cheek and began to caress it, while he took his left hand and yanked out the IV cord, making fresh blood come from the new wound.

Ryo clenched his teeth as the pain shot through his arm. He watched as Ky looked over his body with lingering eyes. He tried to move again, to stop the armor from what he had planned, but quickly realized Ky was holding him in place. His eyes became fearful once again when Ky's gaze locked with his. The armor gave him a wicked smile as it held up its index finger. Before Ryo could understand what was going on, Ky winked and rammed his finger through the stitches, back into the wound he had played with last time. Ryo began to scream in agony, but Ky's hand clamped down over his mouth. Arching his back, Ryo tried to pull away, but Ky continued to hold him in place. The armor pushed, pulled, wiggled, and poked its finger around inside the wound. He enjoyed the tears of pain it brought from the boy beneath him, and the jerking Ryo's body did as if in protest of the invasion. His hand tightened on Ryo's mouth as the boy screamed harder with every movement the finger inside him made.

Blood covered the sheets of the bed in a matter of seconds.

stststst

Dais entered the thrown room of the castle in the Nether Realm. He approached Sekhmet and Kale, who were talking amongst themselves. They looked up and watched as he approached.

"Do you two have a bad feeling?" he asked, cutting to the chase and not bothering with small talk.

"About what?" Sekhmet asked.

"I don't know. Something just doesn't feel right."

"We agree, Dais. That's what we were discussing before you came in. We've felt it for about a week now. It's faint, but-" Kale stopped when the door flew open.

Kayura stormed in with Kaosu's staff, which was ringing and glowing, in her hands. "Something's wrong with Wildfire," she said.

The three Warlords looked at her in shock.

"What's wrong with him?" Kale asked concerned.

"I'm not sure. The Staff acted this way last week. I couldn't figure out what it meant then, but I do now. Wildfire is in danger."

"Then we must help him," Dais replied.

"Why?" Sekhmet asked stubbornly. He knew they had to help Wildfire but he couldn't let the others know that.

"Because, Sekhmet. One, he defeated Talpa. Twice. Two, he wears the Inferno. And three, it's our job to help them when they need us," Kale hissed.

"Fine. Let's go."

They all nodded and vanished.

stststst

Whiteblaze sensed something was wrong. There was a presence here that shouldn't be. He turned his head back towards the stairs.

"What's wrong, Whiteblaze?" Sage asked.

The tiger lowered his head, still glaring at the stairs, and growled. Before the others could stop him, he jumped out from under the table and ran for the stairs, running up them to the tenth floor. Kento threw down his burger as he and the others chased after the white tiger.

stststst

Ky pulled his bloody finger out with a quick jerk, opening the wound further and caused more blood to pour out. Ryo screamed again but it was muffled by the hand over his mouth. Tears continued to stream down his face as he watched Ky put the bloody finger in his mouth and began sucking the blood off. Ryo had never wanted to throw-up as much as he did in that moment.

'Blaze…guys…,' he thought in agony.

Ky removed his finger from his mouth and smiled wickedly. With his hand still tightly covering Ryo's mouth, he moved his head towards the wound. He licked the blood as it poured out, smiling against the boy's side as he felt Ryo flinch. Without hesitation, Ky shoved his tongue inside the wound. He felt Ryo's body begin to shake again from the invasion, and he had to tighten his hand over Ryo's mouth as the boy screamed from the movement of his tongue. Ky removed his tongue slowly, then licked the blood around the wound before he straightened himself. He locked eyes with Ryo, and proceeded to lick the blood off his lips.

"That wound won't be healing for a while," he smiled. "My poison will make it last for a long time. I hope you enjoy my gift." He leaned over so his mouth was by Ryo's ear. "Now for the painful part," he whispered.

He erected himself again placing his free hand on Ryo's chest, which began to glow the green of his armor. The glow seeped into Ryo's body, and Ryo arched his back again and his body began to shake uncontrollably. His screams were once again muffled by Ky's hand, and fresh tears rolled down his face into his already soaked hair.

stststst

Kayura and the Warlords appeared in the hospital room Ryo was staying at. They looked at the scene before them, which quickly made their blood boil.

"Stop it!" Dais demanded.

Ky looked up and smiled kindly. "If I stop now, it will kill him."

"If you don't, it'll kill him anyway!" Kale snapped.

"How little you know," Ky shook his head, still smiling.

Whiteblaze, the Ronins, and Mia ran into the room before the Warlords could make a comeback. The boys were about to attack when the green light faded and Ky withdrew both his hands. "Finished," he said, then caressed Ryo's face once more before he looked at the others in the room. "Try to help him now!"

Sage shoved the others out of his way and ran to Ryo's side. He quickly took in his friend's condition; he was breathing erratically, blood came out of the places on his arm where the IV had once been, blood also poured out of the wound on his side, his eyes were glazed over, the tears had stopped, he was flat on his back again, his body was trembling slightly, and he was still conscious.

"Hold on, Ryo," Sage whispered, placing his hands on Ryo's chest. A soft green light filled the room, but so did Ryo's scream. The injured boy arched his back as hot tears ran from his tightly closed eyes. Sage jerked his hands away instantly and the light faded, along with Ryo's cries of pain. He looked around in disbelief. "Wha-What happened?" Sage asked.

"The armor has blocked your healing powers. Now, if you try to heal him, you'll only be hurting him more," Sekhmet explained calmly from his place near the wall.

Whiteblaze and Rowen joined Sage by the bed, while Sai and Kento left to find a doctor. Rowen applied pressure to the wound on his side in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Sage whipped the tears off Ryo's face and held his arm where the IV's had been. Whiteblaze nuzzled his leg in hopes to comfort his charge. Mia and the Warlords stood in the corner watching them.

"Gomen, Ryo," Sage whispered, and rested his forehead on Ryo's.

"Hey, don't start blamin' ya'ahself, Sage. Ya didn't know," Rowen said.

"He's right, Halo. There's no way you could have possibly known," Kale agreed.

Sage refused to say anything; instead he continued to stroke his friend's sweat and tear soaked hair in apology.

"Sage-" Rowen began, but was interrupted when the door was thrown open as Sai and Kento ran in with the doctor. The middle-aged man stopped dead in his tracks as he took in the scene before him.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"A man came in and attacked Wil-…Ryo," Sekhmet explained.

"Call security and get them to post some guards at the door," the doctor ordered.

"No," Ryo gasped out before he fainted.

"We'll be watching over him. No need for security," Dais said firmly. He and the other Warlords were dressed in all black, which made them look like they were from some sort of bodyguard service. Despite this, the doctor looked at them doubtfully.

"We're his bodyguards," Kale informed him calmly.

The doctor dropped it and moved to help Ryo. He pushed the nurse button and called for some help. "You'll all have to go out to the waiting room," he told them. The Warlords hesitated, but followed the Ronins when they shook their heads yes. They all watched as more doctors went into the room and left with Ryo, heading towards the emergency room.

"Let's go wash up, Rowen. We'll meet the rest of you in the waiting room," Sage said. Then he and Rowen made their way to the washroom, while the others went to where they were told to go.

stststst

"I can't believe this is happening," Sai said as he sat in a chair in the waiting room.

"Well, it is; so cope," Sekhmet hissed.

Sai looked at him with anger. He stood up, ready to say something, but Rowen put a hand on his shoulder.

"Back off, Sekhmet," the Ronin of Strata warned.

The Warlord of Venom glared at the blue-haired boy.

"How did he get in here in the first place?" Dais asked.

"Why should we tell you?" Kento snapped.

"We're here to help," Kale replied.

"Yeah right," Sage mumbled.

"We are here to help. Kaosu's staff told us he was in danger, so we came," Kayura explained.

"Whe'ah we'ah ya a week ago!" Rowen shouted. "We can handle this!"

"Not from where I'm standing, you can't," Sekhmet hissed.

"You stay out of this! We don't need your help!" Sai snapped. "We can protect him on our own."

"And you've all been doing such a wonderful job already," Dais retorted.

All the Ronins looked at the floor under their shoes. They hadn't done a good job of protecting their friend. They knew that, but they didn't want help from the Warlords. They didn't know if they could trust them. Sure they were on the side of good, but the past could be a bothering thing at times.

Kayura saw their hesitation and took advantage of it. "We know you don't fully trust us but we are here to help in any way we can. It is our responsibility to help when we are needed," she said gently.

"And with Wildfire down right now, you'll need our help to deal with this new threat," Kale added.

Mia watched her friends look at each other, then at the Warlords. They didn't say anything, just shook their heads in acceptance. With how the armor had fought against them, they were sure they would need the Warlords help, even with Ryo able to fight.

For the next three hours, they sat in silence, waiting for Ryo to get out of the emergency room and placed into a new room. The doctor told them he needed to rest, so only a couple of people at a time were allowed in the room.

stststst

Once the tranquilizer wore off, Ryo pushed himself out of the darkness. He had a dull pain all over his body. 'Must be some strong painkillers,' he thought. His left side was killing him, though. He looked around the room, taking in the scene. Whiteblaze had his head on the bed by Ryo's hand, and Dais and Kento were busy arm wrestling, which neither was winning. Aside from them, no one was in the room.

Ryo pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing from the pain, but shoved it aside. He wanted out of there, and he wanted out of there now, and nothing was going to stop him. He noticed Whiteblaze was looking at him with concerned eyes, then the tiger nodded. Ryo nodded back, knowing his friend knew what he was doing. Ryo looked over to see the other two hadn't noticed him yet. He gently removed the IV cord from his arm, took off the oxygen mask, and pulled off the heart monitor cords. The ringing that filled the room made Kento and Dais snap out of their match and look towards him. They watched him reach over and turn the machine off. Pain flared throughout his body and he had to sit still for a moment.

Kento ran to his side when Ryo tried to get up. "Where are you going, Ryo?" he asked concerned.

"Home," was his matter-of-fact answer.

"You can't, Ryo. You need to-" Kento stopped when Whiteblaze growled at him. "Easy, Whiteblaze, it's me!"

Whiteblaze growled again and took a threatening step forward. Kento and Dais backed up, watching as Ryo lent on his tiger as he got off the bed. Ryo stood there until he could feel his legs, then he made his way over to the closet with Whiteblaze supporting him. Ryo grabbed his pants first and slid them on over the hospital shorts. The next item of clothing was a baggy red shirt. Pain shot through his body but he pushed it all away. He slid his shoes on and walked, with Whiteblaze, out the door.

Kento and Dais followed, having a rough idea of what he was doing, and doubting that he would be able to pull it off.

stststst

Nurse Akuji looked up as Ryo walked down the hall with the white tiger. She was surprised to see him up in his condition. She got up and stepped in front of him. "Mr. Sanada, you shouldn't be up," she began. "You-"

"Are leaving," Ryo cut her off. He didn't say it in a rude way, just firmly. "There's nothing else you can do for me. Please get the release forms."

"But-"

"Mr. Sanada?" his doctor asked as he approached. "You're awake, I see."

Ryo turned to look at the doctor. "And leaving,"

"But you're still in the critical stage. You need rest."

"I'll rest at home. I'm not staying here."

The doctor saw the determination in the boy's eyes. He wouldn't be able to stop him if he wanted to; especially not with the tiger around. Reluctantly, the doctor nodded. "I'll see what I can do." With that he left the pair. Nurse Akuji them a sad smile and then returned to her work behind the desk.

Ryo leaned more on Whiteblaze. All he wanted to do was faint but if he did that he definitely wouldn't get out of here. His whole body ached even with the painkiller. Whiteblaze purred softly while he rubbed Ryo's leg. He was a little disappointed when Ryo didn't scratch behind his ear like he usually did but he knew Ryo was using all his energy just to stay awake and not pass out.

The other Ronins, Warlords, and Mia came running up to him. Kento and Dais had gone to tell them what Ryo was doing.

"Ryo, get your ass back in that room!" Sage ordered.

"What the hell do ya think ya'ah doin'?" Rowen demanded.

"You shouldn't be up, Ryo!" Sai exclaimed.

"Go back, Ryo! You need to rest!" Kento yelled.

The Warlords just stood there watching Wildfire as he ignored his friend's pleas/demands. They could see the determination, and stubbornness, etched in his facial features.

"Ryo, are you listening!" the Ronins yelled in perfect unison.

Again the Warrior of Virtue ignored them, eyes remaining on the floor.

"I give up!" Kento shouted, throwing his arms in the air. "He's too stubborn to listen to anything we say."

Sai put his hand on the outraged boy's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

A few minutes later the doctor came back. Ryo snapped out of his daze and looked at him. He signed a form and smiled at the doctor.

"Arigato," he said, and then he and Whiteblaze walked down the hall; the other Ronins following close behind.

"Miss Koji?"

"Hai, doctor?" she asked as she turned to face the man.

"I think you'll be needing these." He handed her a box of syringes, several little bottles of painkiller, and then he gestured to a box on the floor. "He can't eat whole food's yet. You'll have to make him drink that."

Kale walked over and picked the box up. Then he followed Mia and the other Warlords down the hall. They quickly caught up with the others and followed Ryo outside to the parking lot. The Ronins were only a couple of feet behind him. Ryo came to a sudden stop and fainted, falling backwards into Sages arms.

"Ryo!" they all shouted and gathered around him, including the Warlords.

"We have t' get 'im back inside!" Rowen ordered.

Kento gathered Ryo in his arms and turned towards the hospital. Before any of them could take a step, Whiteblaze jumped in front of them and growled.

"Out of the way, cat!" Sekhmet hissed, taking a step forward.

Whiteblaze lowered his head and growled again; then he gave them sorrowful eyes and whimpered. Everyone stood in silence, not knowing what to do.

"Wait a sec," Rowen began. "Sage, do ya rememb'ah what Ryo told us this mornin'?"

The blond thought for a moment. "He wanted to go home."

"Exactly."

"What are you saying? He did all this _just_ to go home?" Kale asked.

"That's exactly what Ah'm sayin'," Rowen replied.

"It would be like him to do something like this," Sai agreed.

"Well then, let's give him what he wants," Kento suggested. He walked over to the van, waited for Sai to open the door, told the Warlords to get in the back, and then placed Ryo across their laps. Kayura and Mia road in the middle, while Sai sat in the passenger seat and Kento in the driver's. Sage and Rowen road on Whiteblaze since they couldn't fit in the van. The tiger didn't object; he was just happy Ryo was getting out of the one place he hated more than anything.

When they reached the mansion, Sekhmet carried Ryo up to his room. Sai, Kento, and Whiteblaze following close behind him. They removed his shirt, being careful of his injuries, and took his shoes off. Since he still had on the hospital shorts, they decided to remove his pants.

"For some reason, this just doesn't feel right," Kento said as he pulled off Ryo's pants.

"Do you want him to be awake while you strip him?" Sai joked.

Kento glared at his best friend, then smiled. "Well, at least he'd know I was doing it."

Whiteblaze watched as Sekhmet and Sai placed Ryo under the covers, and as Sai pulled the covers up to Ryo's chest, then moved the locks out of his face. Ryo let out a soft moan as he flinched under the covers. The tiger approached the bed and nuzzled his charge's hair.

"Affectionate beast, isn't he?" Sekhmet replied.

"He acts as if Ryo's his own cub, he's so protective at times," Sai laughed.

Sekhmet looked at Sai and then back at the boy in the bed. The two conscious Ronins could have sworn a smile appeared on his face for a brief instant. "Well, let's leave him to rest. I don't think they'll be bothering him again for a while. We'll take turns checking up on him every hour or so," Sekhmet said as he left the room.

Sai and Kento looked at each other and shrugged. "Sleep well, Ryo," Sai said as he followed Kento out of the room, leaving the door open.

Whiteblaze curled up on the rug between the two beds. He watched his friend from the floor. 'You're safe now, Ryo. I won't leave your side. No matter what happens, I'm here,' he thought as he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

stststst

Rowen walked over to the phone and picked it up. Kayura saw him and stopped beside him.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh? Wha?" Rowen looked over at her. "Oh. Ah'm callin' Yuli t' tell 'im Ryo's he'ah."

"Oh."

Rowen watched her walk into the kitchen, and then finished punching in Yuli's number. It rang a few times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" a young voice asked.

"Yuli?"

"Rowen?"

"Yeah, it's me. Look, kiddo, Ah just wanted t' let ya know Ryo's he'ah at Mai's."

"He is! Is he awake?"

"Nah. He's out cold. He'll probably be asleep fo'ah a while. But if ya'ah parents say it's okay, Mia said ya could come ov'ah fo'ah a while."

"Hold on, let me go ask."

Rowen waited for a few minutes before Yuli came back on the other end.

"Rowen?"

"Still he'ah."

"Mom said I could come over when he's up. She thinks it would be better that way," he said with a bit of disappointment. "So tell him to hurry and wake up!"

Rowen chuckled. "Ah'll give 'im the message; fo'ah all the good it'll do."

"Okay, I'll see you guys later." With that, the eight-year-old boy hung up phone.

Rowen hung up and walked to his room. He opened the door to find Sage sitting on his bed looking at the wall. Rowen walked over and bent down near his friend. For a minute he studied the spot Sage was looking at. "Well, Ah just don't see it," he said, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Sage snapped out of his trance and looked at the blue-haired boy. "See what?"

"Whatev'ah the hell ya find so damn interestin' in the wall pap'ah," Rowen chuckled.

Sage looked back at the wall then at Rowen. He scratched the back of his head and offered a small smile. "I find nothing interesting in the wall paper, Ro."

"Then what we'ah ya doin'?"

"Thinking."

"'Bout?" Rowen pressed.

"About…everything that's going on," Sage replied.

"Like?"

"Like…Like how Ryo's always coming through for us but when it comes time for us to help him, we…"

"Sage, Ah know how ya feel. Ah've been thinkin' the same thin'," Rowen admitted. Sage looked at him, his own eyes full of sorrow. "But right now we have t' focus. We have t' train and make su'ah they don't get a hold of 'im again."

"Yes. And thanks to Ryo, one down and two to go," Sage agreed. "We'll start training tomorrow morning. Even the Warlords could use it."

A knock came from the door and Kale entered. He looked a little hesitant as he stood in the doorway.

"Ya can come in, ya know," Rowen said.

"We won't attack, promise," Sage replied. He and Rowen looked at each other with wicked smiles and turned back to Kale.

"Very funny, Halo," Kale said as he entered their room.

"It's Sage, Kale," Sage said with a bit of annoyance.

"_Halo_, we have decided to start training first thing in the morning."

"Good."

Kale blinked at the response, and then gave them a confused look.

"We we'ah just talkin' 'bout that," Rowen provided. "We we'ah goin' t' tell y'all at dinn'ah."

"Well, Torrent and Mia are cooking dinner right now. It will be ready in an hour," Kale said as he left the room.

Sage and Rowen looked at each other and shrugged.

"Ya wanna play a game of chess?"

"Just to have you kick my ass?" Sage asked, looking at the blue-haired boy who gave him a puppy-dog face. He let out a sigh. "Oh, what the hell. I might even win for once."

They both stood up and left the room. "Ah doubt it," Rowen mumbled low enough Sage didn't hear him.

stststst

After dinner, Mia went upstairs with Kayura to check on Ryo. She slowly opened the door, trying not to disturb the sleepers inside. They quietly entered the room and avoided the large feline in the middle of the floor on their way to the occupant's bed.

Mia took the cap off the needle and poked Ryo's arm. She frowned when he let out a soft moan. After pushing the painkiller into his system, she pulled the needle out and gently rubbed his arm in an attempt to take the pain away. She heard Whiteblaze purr softly behind her, and then felt him rub his head against her leg. She rubbed his ear then turned her attention back to Ryo.

"He never ceases to amaze me," Kayura said softly as she studied the unconscious boy. She looked over to see Mia giving her a questionable look. "When I was under Talpa's control he was so determined, trying again and again to stop me, even if it wouldn't work. Him and Strata both. Such strength. It just amazes me."

"I know what you mean. They are pretty amazing, huh?"

"But, you know, just between us," Kayura said softly, "I'm no match for the Inferno. Or the Wildfire armor. Probably not any of the other's either."

"What are you saying? I mean, I know you were no match for the Inferno, but you creamed the guys when they were separated!"

"I know, but they haven't reached the maximum of their armors power's yet. Just like with the Inferno, they've only begun to scratch the surface. The stronger their bond and hearts become, the stronger the armors become. Even with all the power Talpa gave me, I would have been no match for them."

"How do you know all this?" Mia asked.

"The Staff; and because I'm part of Kaosu's clan."

Whiteblaze purred and rubbed Kayura's leg. She rubbed his ear like Mia had done minutes before. Then she watched the tiger nuzzle Ryo's hair before he went back to his spot on the floor. The girls left the room and walked down the hall. "How long will he stay with Wildfire?" Kayura asked.

"Until he's better; but even then he probably won't leave him alone for very long," Mia answered. "I remember the first time Ryo killed Talpa. He was out for a week. Whiteblaze never left his side once."

"Really?"

"Really."

stststst

In the darkness of a building a figure remained motionless, still deep in sleep and gathering energy for its comeback.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

Not much of a cliffhanger but it'll have to do. If there are any screw-ups, blame the radio. I type while listening to music. It seems to help the story come out faster when I'm listening to a tune.


	7. Messege In the Night

AUTHOR NOTE: There is nudity in this chapter. I don't describe it if you're worried about that. The chapter may be shorter than the others but the next chapter is really long. I have the whole thing, except for the editing and adding, down on paper. So I know where I'm going; don't worry.

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 7: Message in the Night

The next two days were full of nothing but training, eating, sleeping, and taking care of an unconscious Ryo. Mia, for the most part, was the one to give Ryo his painkillers and feed him the drinks the doctor had given her. She also cleaned his wounds and re-bandaged them. The one on his left side didn't look like it was healing, and it bled every time someone touched it or Ryo moved too much. Other than taking care of Ryo, Mia also did research on her computer and fixed the others their meals.

The Ronins and the Warlords had spent the last two days meditating and sparring with each other. Every now and then Kento and Sai would start to goof around. Rowen and Sage would ignore them, since they were use to their friends doing stuff like this, but the Warlords would stop whatever they were doing and watch the two chase each other.

"Now what!" Sekhmet shouted in frustration. Kento was chasing Sai, yet again.

"Sai, dude, you better give me that back!" the bigger boy of the two shouted as he ran after his friend.

Sai quickened his pace and ran between Kale and Sekhmet. "Excuse me!" he shouted and continued running.

This time Sage and Rowen stopped sparring and watched the other two Ronins run around the backyard.

"Wha'd ya do this time, Sai?" Rowen asked the auburn haired boy as he ran by.

The Ronin of Torrent just held up a half eaten sandwich as his answer and continued running with Kento right behind him.

"SAI!" Kento warned.

Sage and Rowen laughed and watched to see who would win. More than likely Kento would; he'd do anything for food, probably even beat the hell out of his best friend to get some.

Sai ran pass Dais and tossed him Kento's sandwich. The Warlord caught it without thinking. He looked at it, then at the teen heading straight for him. "DAIS!" was all he heard as the Ronin of Hardrock rammed into him, but didn't knock him down. Dais threw the boy off him, only to have Kento charge again.

The Ronin of Torrent ran over to Sage and Rowen and bent over, trying to get more air into his lungs and to cool off. The other two boys looked at him then at the Warlord who was still holding the sandwich and trying to fight off Hardrock.

"What happened, Sai?" Sage asked as he watched the scene before him.

"He snuck into the house again and got a sandwich; two actually. I told him he was a pig and he shouldn't scarf it all."

"And ya took his sandwich?" Rowen asked. "Are ya crazy? Ya know how he is wif food."

"Just look at what he's doing to Dais," Sage suggested.

Sai looked over at the two. Dais was on the ground, still holding the sandwich, and Kento was trying to get Dais's foot out of his stomach, while reaching for the sandwich at the same time. "Yeah, I know. But now he knows not to mess with Kento when food's in the area!" Sai laughed.

"Think we should tell 'im t' just give Kento the sandwich?" Rowen asked after they had watched the pair for a few more minutes.

The other two looked at him, then back at Dais. "I think he's had enough," Sai agreed.

"Dais!" Rowen called. "Just give 'im the sandwich!"

Dais looked at the sandwich, and then tossed it towards Hardrock. Kento stopped his attack and grabbed it in mid-air. He didn't even chew as he swallowed it. He smiled at the Warlord on the ground before walking off.

Kale and Sekhmet approached their friend, along with Kayura. They helped him up off the ground, looked him over, and began to smile. He was a mess; his hair was covered with grass and dirt. "Not one word!" he snapped and walked away from them as they fell over laughing.

stststst

That night everyone went to bed early; it had been a long day. Mia and Kayura shared Mia's room again since they were the only girls. They talked for a while about how training had gone that day before they turned in. The three Warlords shared a room, Dais and Kale got the beds, while Sekhmet slept on the floor. They had fallen asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows. Sai listened to Kento snore for a while before he fell asleep. He was use to his friend's sleeping habit, but every now and then it got too loud and he would try to turn Kento over or just hit him with a pillow. Luckily, this time Kento was snoring softly so it really didn't bother him. Rowen read one of his books while Sage meditated by the window. They finally decided to call it a night after a couple hours and fell asleep after they climbed into their beds.

Late into the night, Whiteblaze looked up to see Ryo tossing and turning in his sleep. He heard soft moans every once in a while as Ryo's breathing became unsteady. Soon, Ryo's hair and skin were covered with sweat, and the blankets were also soaked in it. The tiger got up and placed his paws on the bed. He saw his friend's face was filled with fear and pain. He nuzzled his friend in an attempt to wake him.

kjkjkjkj

Lightning struck down from the sky, illuminating a dark building. Inside one of the rooms, an armor-clad Ryo laid on his stomach, not moving. Ever so slowly, the young teens eyes drifted open. He couldn't see anything, for everything was pitch black. He couldn't hear nor smell anything. He felt as if he were somewhere, yet nowhere at all.

"HELP, RYO!"

His head suddenly jerked up, eyes searching the darkness. Ryo knew it was Sai; he would know that British accent anywhere. He pushed himself to his feet, only to regret it electricity coarsed through his body. Ryo fell back to his knees in pain.

"Ryo! Where are you!" Sage yelled in agony.

"We need your help, Ryo!" Kento echoed.

"Ryo! Ahhhh!" Rowen shouted.

"I'm coming! Hold on!" Ryo answered. He pushed himself up and ran towards his friends' voices as they continued to call his name. Pain shot through his body with every step but he ignored it. He had to help them; they were his responsibility. Plus, he couldn't let them down again; so he ran for all he was worth.

Four different colors of light suddenly shown down upon four figures, which were hanging from chains that were attached to the ceiling in the middle of the room. They were all in the same position Ryo had been when he had been captured; their arms and legs were pulled out away from their bodies. The baby-blue beam fell down on Sai, who had scratches all over his armor and was bleeding from several wounds all over his body. Kento was under the orange light. He was bleeding all over, had a black eye, and pieces of his armor had been ripped off. The green light shown down upon Sage. His once blond hair was now a dark red; blood ran down his face and over his armor, which had several holes in it; and his helmet was below him on the ground in pieces. The dark blue light fell upon Rowen, who had the horns of his helmet broken off, and his armor was covered with cracks, holes, and scratches. One of his arms was unarmored, and the flesh looked as if the armor had been ripped off by some wild animal.

Ryo froze, not believing his friends were covered in blood and hung out to die. Pain shot through him and he fell to the ground. Tears fell from his eyes as he realized he had failed them again. Why? Why had they chosen him to be the leader when all he did was screw up? Why? Rowen was smarter and always had a plan; Sage could figure out any trick that was thrown their way faster than any of them; Sai was rational; and Kento, even for all his thick headedness, was strong enough to protect them. He rarely had any of those things, so why had they chosen to put all their faith, and lives, in him? Why did they follow him in battle? He just didn't understand it.

He looked up, forgetting his self-loathing, to see a figure standing behind the chained Ronins. It had blood red eyes that gleamed with evil. It moved out of the shadows and into the light. Fire flared within Ryo as he saw Soylaberst smile wickedly at him. The Ronin of Wildfire pushed himself to his hands and knees when the evil eyes turned to his friends. Pain coarsed throughout his body but he ignored it. Soylaberst moved to Sage, put his hand on the Ronin's chest, and began to send electricity into him.

Ryo pushed himself to his feet and was going to run to help his friend, but something grabbed his arms and jerked him backwards. Ryo looked up to see Ky and Zual, each, holding an arm, keeping him from interfering. He struggled to get loose as he heard Sage's screams of agony as the blood red armor shocked him.

Fire replaced the pain that shot through Ryo's body. He jerked away from the armors and ran towards his friends. He tackled Soylaberst, who grabbed him around the throat and threw him into a wall. Ryo fell to the ground, and looked up in time to see all three armors remove Sai, Kento, and Rowen's helmets. The armors threw them on the ground, then Ky grabbed Sai's hair, Zual grabbed Rowen's, and Soylaberst grabbed Kento's and Sage's. With one quick jerk, they pulled the Ronin's heads off from the rest of their bodies.

"NOOOOOO!" Ryo screamed.

Soylaberst turned to him, dropping the heads he held, and raised one of his hands. It began to glow as he said, "Oh, yes, Wildfire!" He released his lightning, which plunged into Ryo's armor and going out the other side. Ryo released another cry of agony, more for his friends than himself, and fell into permanent darkness.

jkjkjkjk

It was two-seventeen a.m. when the Koji mansion was filled with a blood-filled scream. Everyone bolted awake and ran for their bedroom doors. They all reached the hall at the same time.

"Ryo!" Sai shouted and ran for his friend's room. The other Ronins and Mia quickly followed, but the Warlords hesitated before doing the same. Sai and the others entered the room to find Ryo covered in sweat, his blankets on the floor, and his body tossing and turning. His face made them feel as if someone had stabbed them in their hearts, it was filled with such agony and grief.

"Not again," Kento said in a panic. He ran over to the bed, planning on trying to wake the struggling boy up. Whiteblaze quickly moved out of Kento's way, so the Chinese boy would have enough room. However, when Kento grabbed Ryo's arm, Ryo flung his arm back and hit Kento in his face. The Ronin of Hardrock fell flat of his butt.

The other Ronins moved in to help stop Ryo from moving so they could wake him up. Sai and Rowen grabbed his arms, while Sage grabbed his legs. Ryo struggled to free himself, and he finally put everything he had into the arm Sai was holding. The Warrior of Trust went flying into Sage, causing the Warrior of Courtesy to release his grip and they both went crashing to the floor. Rowen desperately tried to hold on, but a second later Ryo flung him over the bed, into Kale and Kayura. All three of them went to the floor.

Dais and Sekhmet ran to the boy, and started to reach for him when Ryo let out another scream and bolted awake. They watched his eyes snap open and seen they were filled with horror. Then Ryo's eyes rolled back in his head as he fainted; his body falling forwards. Sekhmet caught him before his head hit the bed between his legs. The Warlord of Venom eased Wildfire back to his pillow, before he looked at the others. They were all standing, still shocked at what they had seen in Ryo's eyes when he had awaken.

"What the hell happened?" Sekhmet demanded.

"It was a nightma'ah," Rowen replied as he stepped forward.

"A _nightmare_ caused all that?" Dais asked incredulously.

"They usually don't," Sage answered.

"After they first created the Inferno, and Ryo was unconscious for a week, he had nightmares. But they weren't like this," Mia contributed.

"So the nightmare's are nothing new?" Kale asked.

"No, but we don't know what they're about. Ryo never says anything about them afterwards," Sage explained.

"The throwin' us 'round the room, though, that's new," Rowen added.

"I suggest we shouldn't try to wake him again," Sekhmet said aloud. "That had to have taken a lot out of him. We can't afford it, not if we want him to get better." He looked around the room to see everyone was in shock to hear him say such a thing. "Am I wrong?"

Sai put his hands up in response. "No. We agree with you. It's just…" he trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Nothing," Kento chuckled, and everyone started to laugh, except for Sekhmet anyway.

Whiteblaze made his way over to Ryo's side, and found blood seeping through the bandage on his left side. The tiger whined, which drew everyone's attention. Mia was the first to reach the sleeping boy, and bent down to inspect the wound.

"It's bleeding pretty bad," she said as she looked at his side. "Someone go get the med-kit."

Sai ran out of the room, down the hall, and into the bathroom. He grabbed the kit and ran back to Ryo's room. "Here you go," he said as he handed it to Mia.

Mia sat on the bed next to Ryo's hip. She gently cleaned the wound and replaced the bandage, carefully noting that it was opened a little from all his struggling and was still bleeding a little, even though it had slowed down. Mia also gave him another painkiller to ease the pain he was sure to be feeling. "You'll have to give him a bath tomorrow," she said.

"NANI!" the four Ronins exclaimed.

"We can't give 'im a bath!" Rowen yelled.

"Don't look at us!" a blushing Sage warned at the same time as his blue haired friend.

"We're close, but not _that _close!" Kento replied.

"You can't be serious!" Sai echoed.

"Guys!" Mia shouted. "You're like brothers! It's not like it'll kill you!"

"Yes it will!" they all yelled back.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Dais ordered.

The four teenagers stopped arguing and looked at the Warlord in confusion.

"We'll give him a bath," Sekhmet said, pointing at Dais and himself.

"You?" the Ronins asked.

"Yes, us." Sekhmet hissed.

"What's wrong with that?" Dais demanded.

"Don't you think you're a little old for that?" Kento questioned, with a smirk and lifting of an eyebrow.

"Kento!" Mia shouted.

"Look, Hardrock, I use to have to help bathe my younger brothers. They were around Wildfire's age, so this is nothing new," Dais explained.

"My brother was paralyzed, and I had to give him baths," Sekhmet added.

The Ronins nodded; besides, they didn't want to have to bathe Ryo. If he found out he would blow his top. Plus, they would be uneasy around each other afterwards, and they didn't want that, so they were happy it was Dais and Sekhmet who were going to do it.

"Thanks," they all replied in unison.

"We understand," Dais said as they exited the room.

Whiteblaze watched as everyone filed out of the room. Sage was the last, since he was the one who put Ryo's blanket back over him. The tiger jumped up on the bed and curled around his charge then fell asleep a few minutes later.

stststst

It was ten-thirty the following morning when everyone, except Rowen, got out of bed. Sai went down stairs to cook breakfast for everyone, while Dais and Sekhmet were giving Ryo his bath. Mia and Kayura changed Ryo's bed sheets and straightened his room. Mia moved his kanji orb back onto the table by his bed. Kento, Sage, and Kale were in the living room cleaning. Kale dusted everything, and in doing so, he accidentally knocked the letter from Soylaberst under the cabinet the TV was set on. He never even noticed, because he was watching Kento push the vacuum around. After a few seconds he went back to watching what he was doing. Kento, meanwhile, was vacuuming backwards. He bumped into Sage, who bumped into the TV, causing the tape of Ryo's torture to fall to the ground.

"Kento! Watch where you're going!" Sage exclaimed then went back to whipping the TV screen with a cloth. Kento butted him again, making Sage stumble, and his foot kicked the tape under the cabinet with the letter. Sage turned around and hit Kento upside his head. "You baka! I said to stop it!" Sage hissed.

Kento turned and rubbed his head. "Well, you didn't have to hit me," he retorted. After glaring at each other, they went back to work on cleaning the living room without any more butts from Kento.

stststst

Dais, who was only in a pair of wind pants, was in the bathtub with Ryo so he could hold the boy under the spraying water. His arms were gently wrapped around Ryo's chest, with Ryo's arms dangling over them. The unconscious boy's head was lent back on Dais' bare, left shoulder. They had left the bandage on so the soap wouldn't get into the wound. Aside from that, nothing else was on the Warrior of Virtue's body.

Once they finished washing his hair, Sekhmet applied some soap to a rag and ran it over the boy's bruises and cuts. Ryo groaned and flinched occasionally, but never woke up. Sekhmet washed Ryo's arms, legs, between his legs, chest, stomach, and face. Dais moved Ryo around under the water so the spray could wash the soap off.

"I need to get his backside," Sekhmet said as he put the rag and soap down. He helped Dais turn Ryo around. Ryo's head fell to the left and rested on Dais' right shoulder. The Warlord of Illusion had to be careful with his arms around Ryo's upper rib cage; the boy's bones weren't fully healed yet. Sekhmet grabbed the soap and rag again, lathered the soap into the rag, then began to wash Ryo's back. "They did a number on him, didn't they?"

"I would say so," Dais agreed.

"To think a few weeks ago I was trying to kill him and Torrent."

"I know. I was trying to kill Hardrock, Kale was trying to kill Halo, and Kayura was after Strata."

"We're pathetic. We couldn't even take care of them separately."

"I wouldn't say that. I got into Hardrock's mind pretty well."

"Don't rub it in, Dais," Sekhmet scold.

Dais smiled, and shifted his weight. Unfortunately, he lost his footing and slid backwards, taking Wildfire with him. He had tightened his grip around Ryo as he fell, and Ryo's arms went up as if to block his face. Now Dais lay on his back, arms still around Wildfire, his right knee bent and between Ryo's legs, and his left leg was straight-at an angle with his body-up to the wall. Water continued to pour down upon the two. Ryo groaned and shifted in the arms holding him.

"Dais!" Sekhmet hissed. He could hear someone running towards the bathroom, and he could also hear the tiger growling on the other side of the door. It turned out he was right when someone banged on the door.

"Hey! Is everythin' okay in the'ah?" Rowen demanded. The crash had obviously woken him. "Is Ryo okay?" He tried the handle, but it was locked. "Open the do'ah!"

"No!" Dais shouted back. "We're fine. Sekhmet just dropped the soap okay?"

"Soap doesn't make that loud of a noise!" Rowen insisted.

"It does if I say it does!"

"Just let me in!"

"Look, we have everything under control. I just slipped on the soap. Now go away!" Sekhmet hissed.

"So Ryo didn't fall?"

"Would you go away already? Wildfire's fine. I fell, it's no big deal!" he shouted as he grabbed Ryo and lifted him off Dais.

"Okay, okay. Ah'm leavin'," Rowen said and left to go down stairs.

Dais stood and looked at Sekhmet. The Warlord of Venom didn't say anything, just handed Wildfire back to the Warlord of Illusion. "Why did you say you fell?" Dais asked as his friend ran his hand through Ryo's hair, helping the water get the soap out.

"If he knew you'd let Wildfire fall, we'd never hear the end of it."

Dais thought for a minute, and then said, "Arigato."

"For what?"

"Well, now they'll be teasing you for slipping on a bar of soap!"

"Don't even start it!" Sekhmet hissed. When he looked at the bandage he noticed blood was soaking it. "Shit!"

"Nani?"

"I think the fall reopened it."

"Don't panic. Once we get through with this part, we'll handle that one. Torrent put the med-kit in here, somewhere," Dais said calmly.

They finished Ryo's shower quickly, then toweled his hair and dried him off. Dais then laid him on the floor on top of some other towels, and also covered the boy's lower half. While Dais dried himself off, Sekhmet got the med-kit and began to take the bandage off. As he did, blood poured onto the towels. "Dammit!" he hissed. He put his hand to the wound and applied pressure.

"That bad?" Dais asked as he went over and knelt down.

"It reopened. It's like the damned thing won't heal!"

"It…won't," a weak voice agreed.

Dais turned and looked at Ryo, whose eyes were half open. The Warlord could tell he felt the pain; by the look on Wildfire's face it was a lot. "Wildfire, are you alright?" he asked.

"D-Da-Dais?" Ryo asked weakly. His vision was blurry and he couldn't really tell if it was him or not. He didn't know where he was or why the Warlords were with him.

"It's me. Are you okay?"

"Where…?"

"You are in the bathroom."

"Sekhmet!" Dais hissed, looking at the other who had spoken too harshly. He then turned back to Ryo and saw that the young boy was confused. "We gave you a shower."

Ryo nodded but then groaned as his side shot pain through his body. He tried to pinch his side but the Warlords wouldn't let him. They held him so his body remained straight.

"Easy, Wildfire. We reopened the wound when we fell. Gomen, but Sekhmet is fixing it," Dais said as he tried to get Ryo to lay still.

"Why won't this fucking thing heal already!" Sekhmet hissed in frustration. He was using a needle and some wire to try to stitch the wound close again.

"Ky…"Ryo gasped.

"Nani?" both Warlords asked.

"Ky…did…some…thing…"

"The armor at the hospital? His name is Ky?" Sekhmet asked as he finished closing the wound.

"Ky,…he…he…" Before he could finish Ryo passed out.

"Wildfire!" Sekhmet exclaimed and reached for Ryo's face, but Dais stopped him.

"He's okay; just exhausted," Dais smiled as he let go of Sekhmet's hand. "Besides, you'll be the one who holds him if we have to bathe him again."

Sekhmet looked at his hand to see it was covered with blood. Then he looked at Dais who was smiling down upon the unconscious Ronin. "Why have you changed so much towards him?"

"I no longer have Talpa's hatred telling me to hate him," he replied looking at his friend. "Why do you act like you don't care?"

"Because I don't."

"Please. I saw you panic when he passed out. You can't fool the Warlord of Illusion."

Sekhmet looked away. "Maybe I do care, and maybe I care about Torrent and the others, but…"

"They don't have to know?"

"Exactly. It would ruin my image."

Dais just chuckled.

Once they finished cleaning up their mess, and Ryo, the two Warlords changed Ryo into a pair of dark blue boxers. Dais picked the boy up gently in his arms, with Ryo's head rested on the Warlord's right shoulder. As the three of them left the bathroom, Whiteblaze followed close behind until they went into Ryo's room. He watched them put Ryo back in his bed and cover him up, then as the Warlords left the room. The tiger walked over and nuzzled Ryo's hair, which was still wet. He pushed the locks out of his friend's face and nuzzled his bruised cheek.

The door reopened and Whiteblaze's head whipped around to see who the intruder was. Sekhmet entered, holding Ryo's painkiller. The tiger watched as the Warlord poked his charge's arm with the needle, and pushed the medicine in. He purred and rubbed up his head against Sekhmet's hand to show his gratitude. In return, the Warlord patted the tiger's head.

Whiteblaze watched him as he left the room, and then turned his attention back to Ryo. He laid his head near Ryo's on the pillow. When Ryo turned his head it touched the tiger's and the huge cat purred again. Whiteblaze closed his eyes and drifted of to sleep.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

Yes, I know. Not very much action in this chapter. But the nightmare spiced it up a bit, don't you think? And sorry about the bathroom scene. And NO the boy's are not homophobe's; it was just that they didn't really want to bathe one of their best friends. That's all. Remember, I am a BIG yaoi fan. Why do you think I had Sage blushing? We know he wants to give Ryo a bath! (For non-yaoi fans, just ignore that last remark.)


	8. Return of Something Evil

AUTHOR NOTE: …HA! There is no note!…Okay, forgive my stupidity and enjoy the fic.

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 8: Return of Something Evil

Ryo could feel a dull pain coursing through his body as he slowly came back to the world of the living. When he finally managed to get his eyes open, he swept his gaze around his room. His kanji orb was lying in its normal spot on the bedside table; his room was clean, like he usually kept it; the lights were off, and a big white tiger was sleeping on the rug near the bed. Ryo smiled when he noticed the corners of his friend's mouth were turned up. 'I wonder what's up with that,' he thought. 'Man, I have so got to get up and get moving again'

When the black haired boy tried to sit up, he had to lie back down due to his left side protesting against the movement. Since he couldn't sit up, Ryo gently rolled off the right side of the bed onto his feet. He felt dizzy and could barely feel his legs, so he stood there, holding himself up by using the bedpost, and remained there until the dizziness passed.

Whiteblaze woke up due to the noise his charge was making. The tiger quickly looked Ryo over; the scratches had completely vanished; the scabbed-over cuts still remained; the bruises on his face and body were still dark purple and made Ryo look paler than he was suppose to be. Whiteblaze knew the boy's body was weak; it had been severally beaten; and had spent the last week, since Ryo got out of the hospital, in a bed not really doing much of anything. The times Ryo was conscious, however, the boy managed to use up all the energy his body had gathered, so he remained exhausted.

Ryo looked down to see that he only had red boxers on. He knew, vaguely, that they weren't the color Dais and Sekhmet had put him in after they had given him the shower. 'Well, I better get some clothes on,' he thought. As he began to step towards the dresser he heard a soft growl come from the tiger on the floor.

"Blaze, I have to get dressed. I can't go downstairs like this," Ryo argued as he gestured to his body.

The tiger shook his head, then moved to the dresser himself. He opened one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of black jogging pants. He took them to Ryo, who smiled as he took them. The tiger watched the boy as he put them on, and then went back to the dresser for a shirt. He brought Ryo back a long sleeve, faded red, shirt; which Ryo put on slowly due to his left side flaring with pain when he moved his left arm over his head.

Once Ryo was dressed, he slowly walked to the door and opened it. He held his right hand up against the wall as he made his way down the hall, with Whiteblaze by his side in case the tiger was needed. It was a good thing the tiger was, because six feet from the stairs Ryo's legs decided to give out on him. The tiger jumped in front of the boy and bent down, effectively letting Ryo fall across his back. They stood motionless for a moment, only Ryo's heavy breathing penetrating the air. Once the tiger was sure the boy was okay, he motioned for Ryo to get on. The boy did as he was told and road the tiger down the stairs and into the living room.

Whiteblaze walked over to the fireplace where there was a fire going. He bent down to let Ryo off, then he lied down. Ryo slowly sat down up against the large cat, which quickly curled around him. Ryo turned to his right, burying half his face in the warm fur and instantly fell asleep.

stststst

"Why don't we call it quits? Mia should have dinn'ah started by now," Rowen said as he helped Sai up off the ground. The others agreed; it had been a long day, seeing as how all they did was train. Once they reached the mansion the Ronins headed for the living room, while the Warlords headed for the kitchen to see if they could help.

"Isn't that the cutest thing you ever did see?" Kento joked as he saw their leader curled up against the white tiger by the fireplace.

"Shh. Ya'll wake 'im," Rowen whispered with a smile.

They left the sleepers alone and went to sit down. Sai and Kento sat on the couch, Sage sat in the recliner, and Rowen took the love seat.

"It's good to see him up and moving," Sage replied as he watched Ryo curl into a tighter ball and bury his face farther into the tiger's fur.

"I know. He recovers quickly," Sai said.

"His armo'ah's helpin' 'im. But Ah'm still worried 'bout his left side. Ah watched Mia change the bandage this mornin' aft'ah Kale and Dais gave 'im a show'ah. It looks like it hasn't even begun t' heal," Rowen announced. "Ah think that Ky guy did somethin'."

"We could ask Ryo later," Kento suggested.

"No way. He doesn't need to think about it. Besides, with everything that's happened, I doubt he remembers much of what happened at the hospital," Sage argued.

"Right, we don't need him to worry about it; not in his condition," Sai agreed.

Mia entered the room just then and her gaze fell upon the duo by the fire. She couldn't help but smile at Ryo's boyish look, curled up like a little boy. She quickly turned her attention to the other boys in the room who were busy conversing, softly, with each other.

"Hey, guys." She waited for them to look at her before continuing. "Kale is finishing up in the kitchen, so dinner will be served shortly."

"Great, I'm starving!" Kento exclaimed.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" the other three boys commanded.

Kento shrugged sheepishly and gave them a lopsided grin. "Gomen."

Kayura stuck her head through the door, smiled when she saw Ryo curled up against the tiger, and then turned her attention to the others. "Dinner is ready," she said, then left. Mia smiled at the guys and followed Kayura.

The boys got up and began to head for the door, but stopped when they came to the two by the fire.

"Should we wake him?" Sage asked.

"Well, he's been living on those drink things for a week. I'd say it's about time he got some real food in that body," Kento answered. He bent down next to the sleeping boy and gently shook his shoulder. Whiteblaze lifted his head and watched the Warrior of Justice.

Ryo stirred, unconsciously uncurling in the process, and opened his eyes. He turned his head to see his friends standing around him. He rubbed his right eye, trying to get it to focus, and asked, "What's up?"

"Dinner. You want some?" Sai asked.

"Na, I'm okay," Ryo answered.

"Come on, Ryo! You haven't eaten all day. I know you're hungry," Kento said and began to pick his leader up.

"Kento! No! Put me down. I'm not-" Ryo stopped arguing when he felt a stab in his left side. He resorted to glaring at the bigger boy as he was carried into the dinning room, and placed into a chair Sage had pulled out. Whiteblaze settled down behind the said chair like he always did.

As the Warlords brought the food in from the kitchen Ryo fell asleep with his head resting on his arms. The others just smiled and shook their heads.

stststst

After they cleared the table, Kale and Kayura moved Ryo back to his room, the faithful tiger followed close behind. Kayura opened the door and stepped aside to allow Kale and Whiteblaze to enter. Then she moved to the bed, fixed the pillows, and straightened the blankets.

"This one is certainly a stubborn one," Kale remarked out of nowhere.

"I agree, but he's pushing himself too fast. He needs to rest and regain his strength," Kayura said as Kale placed Ryo in the middle of the bed. They stripped him down to his boxers once again.

"I just don't see where he gets the strength now."

"His heart. You saw how he had fought against Talpa. I guess he's doing what he thinks he has to."

"But we're here now, Kayura. He doesn't have to try so hard," Kale argued.

"Strata told me a few nights ago that Ryo isn't one to sit back and do nothing. He always has to do what he believes his share is. And he hates to burden anyone with anything; especially himself."

"This must be hell for him, having everyone watching over him all the time," Kale nodded.

Kayura pulled the covers up to Ryo's chest and moved his arms over the tops of the blankets. She smiled at Kale and they left the room. Whiteblaze jumped up on the bed and curled up next to Ryo. He let out a soft growl before he fell asleep.

stststst

It was two o'clock in the morning when Sage woke up sensing something was wrong somewhere in the house but wasn't sure what it was. He got out of bed and put his robe on. Even though he knew how hard Rowen was to wake up, he still remained as quiet as possible, just in case. Once the door to his room was shut, he made his way quietly down the hall. Rowen may have been hard to wake up but the others weren't. He was at Sai and Kento's door when he noticed Ryo's light was on and the door was closed.

Sage quietly made his way over and opened the door. Ryo, who was wearing only boxers, was standing at his window with his back to Sage. The only movement the darker boy made was his stomach inflating and deflating, proof that he was breathing. Ryo was just standing there, looking through the curtain into the night. Whiteblaze was beside him, with what looked like concern etched into his feline's features. Sage's own concern grew as he watched his friend.

The blond walked over and stood beside the two. When he looked into the tiger blue eyes, Sage began to worry. The usually bright eyes were now dull, empty, and glazed over. Sage decided he needed to snap Ryo out of whatever hole he was in. "What are you looking for, Ryo?"

Tiger-blue eyes met with pale purple ones for a minute. "Nothing," Ryo said as his eyes went back to the window.

"You need to rest, Ryo. You can't get better if you don't."

"I'm fine, Sage." It was said in a whisper. Sage noticed that he didn't move his body in any way, holding it perfectly still as he spoke.

"You look pale," Sage said, trying to prove his point and get the thickheaded boy to listen to him.

"How can you tell," he mumbled bitterly.

Sage saw the pain and anger that crept into his friend's eyes. The memory was flooding Ryo's mind, and it came back to Sage as well. He reached out a hand and cupped Ryo's face, and then gently turned it to face him. Their eyes locked and Sage could see how exhausted Ryo really was. "You can't fool me, Ryo. I know you're tired, so why are you out of bed?"

Ryo knew Sage wasn't going to leave the matter alone, so he answered him truthfully. "Heard something. Had to…check it out," he answered. He hated how he wasn't able to hide the waver in his voice; now Sage would now he was in pain. He didn't want to see the look of disappointment in his friends face, so he pulled his face free from the hand and turned away. And he regretted the move. "Argh," he gasped as he began to collapse. He had forgotten that the reason he hadn't moved in the last hour was because his side was killing him; moving only made it worse, and he wanted it to subside before he moved back to his bed.

Sage watched as Ryo began to fall forward and before he could move, Whiteblaze had caught the youth and was now purring and rubbing his head against Ryo's leg for comfort. Ryo was bent over the tiger; his head resting on his left arm, which was on the tiger's back, and his right hand was over the bandage on his left side. The black haired boy was also breathing hard and shaking from the pain.

"Ryo!" he whispered, not wanting to wake the others and have them rush into the room. Sage helped Ryo up from his position and placed the boy's right arm around his neck, and put one of his own around the boy's waist, quickly noting that there was blood seeping through the bandage. "Let's get you into bed, okay?" he asked gently.

All he received in answer was a slight nod. Once Ryo was in his bed, Sage went to get painkiller and the med-kit. When he came back, he saw Ryo was reaching for the covers that were at the foot of his bed. "I'll get that, you just lie down."

Ryo did as he was told. It just took him a few minutes to do it, and then he had to get comfortable. He sighed when he was finished and watched as Sage pulled the covers up to his hips and stopped there. Then the blond pulled out a syringe and a small bottle.

"It's your painkiller. Your doctor gave it to Mia. Does it help?"

Ryo just nodded, too tired to really say much of anything. The painkiller did help ease the pain, except for his side. Ryo was beginning to think that Ky's "gift" was never going to heal. So, technically, he wasn't lying; but then again, in a way he was. He looked up at the ceiling when Sage poked him with the needle. It hurt a little, then subsided to almost nothing; at least until he pulled it out, then it felt as if someone had just punched him. He flinched when a hand massaged his arm where the needle had been.

Sage gently moved Ryo's arm away from his body and began to remove the bandage. The other boy's body jerked a few times as he did this. The wound had stopped bleeding, and Sage moved his head only a few inches away to see if it was getting better. He cleaned the blood off of Ryo's skin. Knowing that it stung, since Ryo was breathing harder, he blew on it. He glanced over to see the tiger blue eyes were closed.

"You okay?"

Ryo looked at him and nodded. "Where's Yuli?…Is he okay?"

Sage nodded. "He's at home. When you're up to it, we'd promised to bring him over." He finished putting the new bandage on, then looked at Ryo's face to find his eyes were closed, and his mouth was slightly open. The bruise was still very visible, like all his bruises were, but it was lighter than it use to be. Sage hated not being able to heal his friend. Ryo would be back in action if he could have helped. He pulled the cover the rest of the way up Ryo's body and tucked the sleeping boy in. "Good night, Ryo," he whispered as he moved Ryo's locks away from his eyes. They fell right back into place, which caused Sage to smile. He rose from his place, turned out the light, and left the room heading back to his own.

stststst

The next morning, Ryo made his way to the couch, with a bit of help from Whiteblaze. Once he was seated, the tiger placed its head in his lap. He rubbed his friend's ears until he fell asleep against the back of the couch. Whiteblaze jumped up on the couch, putting his fore paws and his head in Ryo's lap.

An hour later, Sai came down stairs and smiled at the scene. Ryo was now leaning over, resting his head on both his arms, which were on the tigers neck. Sai shook his head as he continued walking into the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone.

The others came down shortly after Sai; Rowen being the last, as usual. He walked over to the two sleepers and gently shook the boy awake. Ryo groaned softly and opened his eyes.

"Rowen?" he asked as he looked up through blurry eyes.

"Yeah. Come on. Breakfast is ready," the blue haired boy smiled kindly.

"Be there in a minute," Ryo said as Whiteblaze got off him.

"Need a han'?"

"Thanks, but I got it. You go ahead."

Rowen shrugged and left the room. A few minutes later, Ryo joined them at the table. He was using Whiteblaze for support, which the tiger seemed to be insisting he do and the boy humored the huge cat. Ryo sat in the empty chair beside Sekhmet and across from Sage, Kento, and Rowen.

Sai, Mia, and Kale entered and served the pancakes Sai had spent the last hour making. Once they were done serving, they sat down and began to eat. Sai sat by Rowen, Mia sat at the head of the table, and Kale sat by Dais.

While he ate, Ryo could tell the others were tense. He felt bad, because it was his fault they were like this. If only he had been more careful. They needed to get out and do something fun for a change. With his decision made, Ryo sat his fork down and looked at them.

"Guys, I was thinking-"

"You need something? More syrup?" Sai asked, suddenly going into mother mode.

"No, Sai, but thanks. Anyway, I think you guys need to get out of the house."

Everyone stopped eating and looked at him. "But-" the Ronins began.

Ryo held his hand up. "Let me finish. You all are too tense; you need to relax for a while. Go to town and find something fun to do for a few hours," he said gently but firmly. Before they could protest again, he continued. "No butts, you're going. I need you to pick Yuli up on your way back. I just got through talking to his mother. You have a few hours before he's ready to come, so go do something. I'll be fine."

"Besides, we'll be here. So you don't have to worry," Kale announced.

Sai, Kento, Sage, and Rowen glanced from themselves to Ryo. They could tell he wanted them to get out of the house. He was probably feeling guilty. So to make him feel better they would do it. When they nodded their consent, though they were reluctant to a point, they watched their leader get up and leave the room with his white tiger. They all noticed he had only eaten a fourth of his breakfast.

stststst

An hour later, the Ronins were headed to town; the Warlords were training in the back yard; Mia was upstairs doing research on her computer over Ky again; and Ryo was lying on the floor in the living room. The dark toned boy had been on the couch but decided to move down to the floor beside Whiteblaze. He was flat on his back, with his head turned towards the television. When he opened his eyes, a light from under the TV table caught his attention. He crawled over, with some protest from his side, and reached under the table. He pulled out a VHS tape and a letter.

Fear rose within him when he noticed the letter was written in blood, for it made Ryo remember something he didn't want to. As he read the letter, he began to panic. 'What all did they see?' he thought. 'What all did they hear?' He pushed the tape in and watched the entire thing. He saw his capture, his mother's death, his father's neglections, a little bit of the beatings, when he fought for his friends, and then he saw himself in front of an abandoned building.

He hadn't heard the armors words from the tape, but he remembered them. The intensity of the pain, he remembered. Everything that wasn't on the tape flashed through his head. Those three days of hell flooded his mind, making him feel every blow, cut, and everything Ky had done to his left side. Ky's hospital visit also showed itself to the distraught teenager. Ryo felt all the pain that visit had caused.

The black haired boy turned the tape off, ejected it, stood up with the letter in his other hand, and headed for his room. It had taken four hours to watch it, and no one had even entered the room.

Whiteblaze looked up at Ryo as he walked beside his friend. He saw the boy's eyes were filled with pain and glazed over. He entered the room with his charge and watched the boy put the tape and letter into a bag, and then shove them into one of the dresser drawers. Ryo then went to his bed and lied down, curling into a ball like he did when he was little. The tiger curled up on the bed next to him and watched as his friend tried to push all the pain away.

stststst

The Ronins road to town in Kento's van, which was an experience all in itself. Their first stop was the mall, where Rowen dragged them to the nearest bookstore. They looked around for a while, but none of them bought anything. After that they made their way to the arcade room. Sage won at the racecar driving games, which the others soon came to the conclusion that he wasn't allowed to participate in, in the future. Sage merely shrugged and smiled. For lunch, Kento drug them to an "all you can eat" buffet. That took almost two hours. Sai then took them to the Aquarium and they watched the fish swim around in their tanks for an hour.

When it was time to pick Yuli up, they didn't even have to get out of the van. Yuli and his mother were waiting by the front door, and Yuli ran to the van, tossed in his bag, and jumped in himself. They waved goodbye to his mother as they backed out of the driveway, and then they headed home.

stststst

In the darkness of a building, blood red eyes snapped open. Their owner felt refreshed from the days it had spent sleeping. 'Wildfire,' it thought. The blood red armor rose from the bed and walked out of the room.

Ky and Zual smiled when their companion came into the room. They rose from their chairs and greeted him.

"Good to see you up and moving," Zual replied.

"What of Wildfire? Did Halo heal him?" Soylaberst asked, not wasting any time.

"Yes, but only your last blow's damage. He's still alive though, even after everything else we did to him. But don't worry, that little bastard won't be getting any more help. I put a stop to that, and left him a gift," Ky smiled and held up his index finger. "Let's just say his left side will be bothering him longer than it should."

"If we decide to let him live," Zual smiled.

"Of course, but I can hurt him without touching him. So our next meeting should be fun."

"So what is our next move, Soylaberst?" Zual asked, turning to his leader.

"We're just going to let them know I'm back," the blood-red armor answered wickedly.

stststst

Kento pulled the van into its parking spot at the mansion. As they got out of the van the sky darkened and thunder roared. Before they could move, Ky and Zual appeared in the distance.

"Yuli, stay here," Sage ordered as he and the other Ronins ran towards the threat, changing into their subarmors along the way.

"Hello, Ronin Warriors," Zual greeted them as they approached.

"Wait! One is missing. Why, where ever is Wildfire? I want to see how his side is doing," Ky said mockingly.

"Ya'ah not getting' anywhe'ah neah Ryo!" Rowen shouted. "Armo'ah of Strata!"

"Armor of Halo!"

"Armor of Torrent!"

"Armor of Hardrock!"

"Dao Chi!" they all yelled in unison. Seconds later they were clad in their full armors.

"Prepare to meet the same fate as Soylaberst!" Kento shouted, running for the armors. The other Ronins followed close behind.

stststst

The Warlords heard the commotion and ran to the front of the mansion. They saw the Ronins, in their armors, battling the two enemies. They ran to help but when they got within seventy feet they were thrown backwards.

"It's a barrier!" Dais shouted then tried to teleport. "We can't get through!"

"Shit!" Sekhmet hissed when he couldn't teleport in either.

"Don't worry; they're doing pretty good," Kale said as he watched Halo and Torrent knock Ky to the ground.

"Let's just hope they can keep it up," Kayura agreed.

stststst

Whiteblaze licked Ryo's face, hoping he would come out of the daze he had been in for the past hour. Nothing the tiger had done had received any reaction, and he was beginning to worry about his friend. He nuzzled Ryo's hair, whining softly.

"Blaze?" Ryo whispered as he came out of the trance. He uncurled, slowly setting up. He winced as the pain his body intensified.

Before the tiger could move to comfort his friend, Soylaberst appeared in the far corner of the room. Whiteblaze jumped to his feet, growled, and stood protectively in front of Ryo.

"No…" Ryo gasped when he saw the intruder. His nightmare had come true; Soylaberst was alive, and back in action.

"Oh, yes, Wildfire!" the armor laughed wickedly and moved forward. Whiteblaze leaped at the intruder but they vanished. The tiger landed and turned quickly when he heard Ryo gasp. Soylaberst was behind Ryo, one hand clamped over the boy's mouth, and the other squeezing his wounded left side. Whiteblaze roared and leaped again but the armor vanished, taking Ryo with him.

stststst

Mia was nearly plowed over when Whiteblaze ran down the hall. Knowing something had happened, she ran after him out the front door.

"Mia!" Yuli called as he ran to her from the van.

"Yuli? Where are the guys?" she asked when he had reached her. She looked in the direction the young boy pointed. Whiteblaze took off running, with Mia and Yuli following as fast as their legs could carry them.

stststst

Ky and Zual hovered in the air; they had just knocked the Ronins away. They smiled wickedly and vanished and Soylaberst took their place.

"What the hell!" Sage shouted.

"Oh, shit!" Rowen replied.

"It can't be," Sai gasped.

"How the fuck?" Kento said.

"I'm glad to see you as well. Yes, I'm alive; just like you're leader. You're not the only one who can heal others, Halo!" Soylaberst laughed wickedly at the looks on their faces. He was holding Ryo behind him, out of the others' view. Ryo couldn't move or speak at the moment, so he couldn't warn them. "But we'll see what we can do about your precious Wildfire."

"Go to Hell!" Sage yelled. "Thunder…Bolt…Cut!"

"Arrow… Shock…Wave!"

"Super…Wave…Smasher!"

"Iron…Rock…Crusher!"

They all fired their sure kills at once, making them mold together and become one. When the blast was halfway to him, Soylaberst vanished, leaving Ryo to take the combined attacks. The boy put his hands up to guard his face and called upon his subarmor, which wrapped protectively around his body.

"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" everyone yelled as they watched Ryo get hit by all the sure-kills.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

Mwwwhhahahahahahahahahahahaah! I'm good!..or evil depending on how you look at it. I hope you guys liked this one.


	9. Finishing the Link

AUTHOR NOTE: In one of the OAV's, they boys gain a certain ability. Let's just say that I borrowed the idea…

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 9: Finishing the Link

The others watched in horror as Ryo's body was thrown backwards. When he landed on the ground, his subarmor disappeared and he lay there unmoving. Instantly, the other Ronins were by his side and Sage checked him over for injuries. The Warlords, Mia, Yuli, and Whiteblaze ran to join them as soon as they noticed the force field had disappeared.

"He's still breathing," Sage announced as they approached. "I think he'll be okay."

"Then let's get him back to bed," Kale suggested.

Dais bent down, gently took the unconscious boy from the blond Ronin, and headed towards the house. Whiteblaze and the other Warlords followed close behind, while Mia and Yuli went to get the boy's bag out of the van.

"How could you let this happen!" Kento demanded when the others were out of hearing range.

"Me?" Rowen yelled. "Ah'm not the one who started it!"

"I was trying to protect him!" Sage shouted defensively.

"And you did such a wonderful job," Sai snapped.

"Oh! Well, excuse me, but I recall four sure-kills. I wasn't the only one involved!" Sage exclaimed before he stormed off into the woods.

The three remaining Warriors looked at one another with disgust, then walked off in different directions.

-+-+-+

The next afternoon when Ryo woke up, his entire body was racked with pain. His mind was also trouble for he couldn't believe Soylaberst was alive. 'How did he survive? Did Ky and Zual heal him? But how? This is so confusing,' he thought.

"Yeah! Well, Ah didn't ask ya t' do it!" he heard Rowen yell from another room. When he heard more yelling he sat up and instantly regretted it as a wave of nausea washed over him and his side flared with pain. Ryo fell back onto the pillows and let out a groan.

"You shouldn't be moving, Ryo," a young voice told him.

Ryo opened his eyes to see Yuli standing beside his bed with Whiteblaze. "Yuli? What's going on?" he asked confused.

"The guys have been arguing since after you got hurt yesterday. Last night, Sai and Rowen slept in the other guest rooms," Yuli added. "It's like they can't stand each other anymore or something."

Ryo frowned, and nodded, which he regretted as soon as his head complained of the movement. "Could you go get me some Asprin?"

"Sure! Be right back."

Ryo smiled at the boy's eagerness to help. A few minutes later, Rowen came in with the pills and a glass of water. Ryo gave him a confused look as he took the items from him. "Ah ran inta Yuli in the hall. He said ya asked fo'ah these, so Ah got 'em," Rowen replied. "How ya feelin'?"

Ryo finished taking the pills before answering. "Better," he lied as he sat the glass by his kanji orb.

Sai came into the room with a bowl of soup in his hands. "Here, Ryo. I brought you some dinner," he said, but then noticed Rowen. "What are you doing in here? Surely you weren't trying to poison him with _your_ cooking?"

"Back off, Fishboy. It's none of ya'ah business why Ah-" Rowen began but was cut off when Ryo's door opened again.

"Hey, Ryo! I smelled food; what are you eatin'?" Kento asked, using it as a conversation starter.

"Well, of course, you'd smell food, fatso," Sai snapped.

"I'm not fat!" Kento yelled defensively.

"Keep tellin' you'ahself that," Rowen laughed harshly.

Sage stormed into the room at that moment. The other boys stopped arguing, deciding glaring at the blond was a better idea. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" he exclaimed. "Ryo needs to rest, not to listen to all of you argue!"

"Look who's talking, Mr.-Leader-Wanna-Be!" Kento snapped.

Ryo looked at Whiteblaze, who was still by the bed, when a new argument broke out. He frowned at the tiger, and then watched the others yell back and forth at each other. After five minutes of none stop arguing, Ryo decided he'd had enough. He wanted to know what was going on _now_. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, pushing away the pain the movement caused.

"Get out!" he shouted. The other four Ronin Warriors stopped arguing and looked at him confused. Before they could say anything, Ryo continued. "Get out and meet me downstairs in ten minutes." When they didn't move he yelled, "_NOW_!"

The boys ran out of the room, nearly trampling each other in their haste to obey.

Ryo slowly got up and put some clothes on. He opened his dresser and pulled out the bag he had place in there the day before. He had a feeling he was going to need it. He made his way downstairs with Whiteblaze and entered the living room. The first thing he noticed was that his friends were sitting as far away from each other as they could. Kento was in the recliner, Sai on the loveseat, Rowen on one end of the couch, and Sage was on the other end of said couch. They were all looking at the floor, not even bothering to glance up when Ryo entered the room. Ryo walked over and sat the bag on the coffee table.

"What's wrong, guys?" he asked gently as he leaned on Whiteblaze. "Why are you fighting?"

None of them answered, not even bothering with a shrug of their shoulders. Ryo began to feel like he was losing them. They still hadn't looked up at him. "Kento?…Sai?…Rowen?…Sage?" he asked as he looked at each of them. Anger began to rise but he tried to keep it under control. This wasn't the time for it. "What's going on?"

Still, they didn't answer.

"How am I suppose to help if you won't even tell me what's wrong?" Ryo asked. He stood up straight and stepped forward, looking at his friends. When they didn't answer, he lost it. "What the hell is doing on!"

They all seemed to snap out of whatever they thinking. When they looked up, they saw a mixture of emotion on Ryo's face. His bruised face.

"We failed you, Ryo," Sai said sorrowfully.

"The only thin' we'ah good for is-" Rowen began.

"Making the Inferno," Sage finished.

"What are you saying?" Ryo asked confused. The anger fled, being replaced with worry. 'How can they even think such a thing?'

"Ryo! We couldn't even save you when you needed us! You've always come through for us, saving our asses every time we turn around, but we couldn't save yours!" Kento exclaimed.

"How can you say that?" Ryo asked, trying not to let tears come to his eyes. "You don't kno-"

"We do, Ryo! We know what happened!" Sai yelled, cutting him off.

"Because of this?" Ryo asked. The anger came back as he picked up the bag and tossed it to Sai.

Sai caught it, looking confused. The others watched silently as the boy opened the bag and pulled out a tape. "Where did you get this?" Sai asked softly. His own anger left him as he thought of Ryo finding out about Soylaberst's tape. He was now filled with fear of what his leader might do. Ryo wasn't in any condition to be arguing or getting upset. And especially not seeing himself being tortured again. Sai could only imagine what Ryo was thinking.

Ryo ignored Sai's question. "That's not even half of what I went through. You don't know what they said! So don't sit there and tell me you know, because you don't!" He had to lean on Whiteblaze again. This was taking everything out of him but he had to make them understand, and the only way to do that would be this.

"Ryo, the tape doesn't matter! We-" Sage began.

"'Doesn't matter'!" Ryo's anger flared and he stepped forward again. "My life story was laid out in front of you, and it doesn't matter? The one thing I've never told another soul, except for Blaze, and it '_doesn't matter'_!" His friends saw the flames in his eyes explode. "It mattered to me! I didn't want you to find out that way," Ryo said, calming down.

"Well, what 'bout the part whe'ah ya we'ah fightin' fo'ah us?" Rowen demanded.

"They weren't you," Ryo corrected.

"You thought they were, and if not, you couldn't take the risk," Sage insisted.

Ryo couldn't say anything. He just looked at each of their faces, their accusing faces. 'Did they hate me for fighting for them? For saving them in the past?'

"You were already beaten to a pulp," Sai said, "and you still managed to save us!"

"But we couldn't do the same for you!" Kento added.

Ryo looked at the ground, tears coming to his eyes. "But you did," he mumbled. He held the tears in as he looked up at them. "I…I wanted to die." When they gave him shocked looks for his confession, Ryo quickly looked at the floor. "I thought I had nothing left to fight for. That I-I had already lost everything. That I was alone." He paused and looked at them again. "But when you came, I knew I was wrong, that I hadn't lost everything. And I still have so much more to lose. You did save me, just not the way you'd planned," he explained truthfully.

The four silent boys looked at each other, then back at their leader, who was leaning more on the tiger than he had been. They couldn't believe Ryo had given up. Ryo _never_ gave up! Maybe they didn't know what all he'd went through. Looking at him, they could tell he was exhausted from this. It had been an emotional roller coaster.

Rowen was the first one to rise from his place on the couch and approach Ryo, holding out his hand. "Gomen, Ryo. I didn't realize…"he trailed off as Ryo grabbed his hand, and gently squeezed it in understanding.

The other three stepped over and placed their hands on top of the clasped ones.

"I'm sorry for everything I've said, guys. I didn't mean any of it," Sage apologized.

"Me two," Sai agreed.

"Me three," Kento nodded.

"Me fou'ah," Rowen echoed.

"Me five. I didn't want to be left out," he added when they looked at him. The other four returned the smile.

"You guys know you're like brothers to me, right?" Sai asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah, dude. We're family!" Kento laughed.

They all heard a growl from behind Ryo, and looked over to see what the tiger wanted. They all began to laugh as Whiteblaze curled around Ryo as if to say 'mine'. Ryo just rubbed behind the tiger's ears.

When they calmed down, Sage looked at them seriously. "Let's not fight like that again. We're stronger than that," he said.

The others nodded in agreement.

Sai looked at Ryo, quickly noticing his friend's eyes were almost completely glazed over. "Ryo? You okay?" he asked, stepping closer.

Ryo just gave him a slight nod.

"C'mon, mister. You're going back to bed," Kento said and gently picked his leader up. Ryo passed out once his feet left the floor.

"I'll go get his pain killer," Sage said. He ran to the kitchen, got the medication, then caught up with the others as they headed up the stairs. Whiteblaze led the way to Ryo's room.

stststst

"I see it now," Kale said to no one in particular. He, the other Warlords, Mia, and Yuli were all gathered at a door, listening in on the Ronin's conversation. They had heard the arguing, then Ryo saying something, and finally four of the Ronins walking into the living room, refusing to say anything. Since the boys wouldn't tell them what was up, the others in the house decided to find out for themselves.

"See what?" Sekhmet questioned.

"Why they chose him to be their leader." He looked around and continued. "It's not because he has the Wildfire or the Inferno armors; it's because he has the heart and understanding it takes to lead. He never stops fighting for what he believes in."

Mia and Yuli quickly agreed; they knew Kale was right. The other three Warlords had to think about it for a minute before they agreed as well.

"Come on," Mia said to them. "We have things to do." With that said, they all went their separate ways.

stststst

Sai and Rowen straightened the bed while Sage gave Ryo, who was still in Kento's arms, his shot. Whiteblaze stood in the corner watching them. When they got Ryo down to just his boxers and back into his bed. The tiger curled up on the floor and rested its head on his paws.

"I think I like him better this way," Kento joked as he looked down at his sleeping friend.

"I know. He can't fight back," Sai agreed.

"Well, Ah'll be glad when he's bett'ah," Rowen sighed. "Ah don't think he really likes us babyin' 'im."

"I'm still in shock from seeing tears in his eyes. Emotional tears, anyway," Sage said softly.

"Yeah, I've never seen that before. To think we caused it," Sai said. "I'm sorry, you guys, for everything I said. And Kento, I'm sorry for throwing your Twinkie stash in the toilet."

"Don't worry about it, Sai. I deserved it actually. I mean, I shouldn't have put that shrimp in your stew. It was harsh, and I'm sorry," Kento offered.

Seeing as how the others were apologizing, Rowen turned to Sage. "Ah wouldn't use ya'ah shampoo, Sage; it'll turn your hair pink."

Sage's eyes grew wide with anger, but then he just shrugged. "Thanks. It's a good thing I came in here earlier then. I was on my way to take a shower."

"Man, Rowen! Why'd you have to go and tell him!" Kento whined. "I wanted pictures!"

"Kento!" they all hissed, then laughed at themselves.

Ryo snuggled deeper into the bed and curled up into a ball as he listened to his friends. He felt at peace for the first time in weeks. They would make it through this together, as long as they remembered how much they meant to each other.

stststst

Mia heard the boys laughing from downstairs. She was glad they were back to normal but Ryo needed to rest. She made her way upstairs and into Ryo's room.

"Guys!" she whispered. "Keep it down if you're going to stay in here. He needs rest after what just happened."

"Ya heard?" Rowen asked.

"We all did," Kayura said as she entered and stood by Mia.

"How much?"

"Considering we were standing by the door, Halo, everything," Kale replied as he, too, entered the room.

"You were ease-dropping!" Kento shouted.

"What else were we supposed to do? None of you would say anything," Dais answered as he stood by Kale.

"It was a private conversation! You had no right!" Sai threw back.

"Please. Since when have we cared if we had the right or not?" Sekhmet hissed as he joined them in the room. "And anyway, you listen in on other's conversations. I've seen you all huddled by a closed door. So don't stand there and tell us off when you do the same thing."

"Besides, it's important for a team to know what's going on within itself," Dais added.

"Team? You're not a Ronin Warrior!" Kento snapped.

"We can form the Inferno," Kale mentioned. "So in a way, we are."

"You can form the Inferno?" Sai asked confused.

"Yeah," Rowen answered before the Warlords could. The Ronins looked at him for an explanation. "When Kayura was trying to take over Ryo's body by using some kind of dust and Nether Spirits, the Warlords and I created the Inferno with Ryo. After that, they protected him while he tried to get rid of the Spirits."

"So he doesn't need us?" Sage asked.

"Of course he needs you," Kayura answered. "We may be able to form the Inferno, but it isn't as strong as when the five of you do it. You're more pure than we are. We will never be able to replace any of you."

"She's right," Dais agreed. "The power isn't the same. Don't ask me why, maybe it's the bond between you."

The Ronins blushed and looked at the floor. They hadn't expected the Warlords to practically praise their powers. They usually only got put down by their former foes, but now they were being nice.

'Talk about a total turn around,' Kento thought.

"C'mon, let's go watch some TV while he rests," Mia suggested and left the room. The Warlords followed close behind her.

"You know guys, I was thinking," Sai began as the other began to leave.. The others stopped and walked back over to their friend. "He watched the tape. The whole thing. I thought he was going to go crazy down there."

"Tell me 'bout it," Rowen agreed. "Just imagine havin' t' live through that twice."

"I for one, don't want to," Kento objected. "I saw the look in his eyes. No thank you. I'm surprised he stayed sane after the first time."

"He thanked us for that, remember?" Sage reminded them.

The others nodded in agreement then headed for the stairs to join the others, leaving the black-haired boy and white tiger asleep in the dark room.

stststst

The next two days passed by quickly. While Ryo slept off and on, the others trained. With Soylaberst back in action, they knew they'd have to be ready. It would take everything they had to defeat him, and they prayed Ryo would be able to help, but they didn't know if they could count on it. Using the Inferno could kill Ryo in his current condition. They'd have to find another way.

It was late morning when Sai, Kento, and Yuli ran into Ryo's room. Yuli jumped up on the bed and gently shook his hero in an attempt to wake him up.

"Ryo! Wake up, Ryo! C'mon, we have to get going!" the eight-year-old shouted excitedly.

Ryo groaned softly, moving a little. He slowly opened his eyes when the shaking didn't quit. "Yuli?" he asked, seeing his little buddy loaming over him.

"Get ready, sleepy head," Sai smiled. "We're going out for a picnic. Even the Warlords."

"So get up, get dressed, and try to hurry. I'm starving!" Kento laughed.

"Kento!" Sai exclaimed. "We'll meet you downstairs. C'mon, Yuli." He pushed Kento out of the room and dragged the little boy with them.

Ryo pulled himself out of his bed, careful not to tick off his left side, and got dressed. Whiteblaze insisted that Ryo get on his back, which, after protesting, he did. 'Blaze can be so stubborn at times.'

"What took you so long?" Kento asked when Ryo arrived down stairs. "I told you I was hungry."

"Gomen, but Blaze wouldn't let me out of the room until I got on," Ryo explained.

"I want to ride with, Ryo!" Yuli exclaimed. "Can I? Please, Ryo?"

"If Blaze says it's okay," Ryo replied. Whiteblaze nodded in approval. Sage picked Yuli up and sat him in front of Ryo, then proceeded to get on behind him. "Sage?" Ryo asked as he looked over his shoulder at the paler boy.

"If you think I am going to let you fall off a tiger, you're crazy," was Sage's answer.

Ryo just smiled and turned back to the others. "We'll follow."

Mia and Kayura road in the jeep with the food, while the other Ronins and Warlords road in Kento's van. They went twenty miles into the woods before they put both vehicle in park and everyone got out.

stststst

"Man! That was good!" Kento said while stretching and rubbing his stomach.

"How would we know? You ate most of it," Dais said dryly.

"Why do you think we packed so much?" Sai teased.

Everyone began to laugh, even the Warlords. It was like they fell into place amongst the teenagers. It was a nice comfort for all of them to have.

"C'mon, guys. Ah'm up fo'ah a game of football," Rowen announced as he stood up.

"Great idea," Sage agreed and got up.

"Count us in!" Sai and Kento exclaimed.

"And us," Kale said, pointing to himself, Dais, and Sekhmet as they stood up as well.

"You?" Kento laughed.

"Against you," Sekhmet hissed.

"But that's four on three…Hey, Ryo, you up to playing?"

"Kento! He can't in his condition!" Sai snapped.

"Thanks anyway, Kento. But I just want to sit here," Ryo smiled.

Kento perked up, knowing that he hadn't insulted his friend.

"Besides," Dais began, "we don't need another player. We'll do fine all on our own."

"If you insist, twinkle toes," Sai laughed.

"Men," Mia muttered as she watched the seven males run to a clearing.

"Tell me about it," Kayura giggled. "Living in the Nether Realm with those three is no picnic. They're always arguing."

"Trying living under one roof with five teenagers, a tiger, and a kid. Need I say more?" Mia smiled.

"Yeah! Go Sai!" Yuli shouted from his seat beside Ryo.

Ryo leant back against Whiteblaze and watched his friends play against the Warlords. Sai had just made a touchdown. He smiled as his friends began dancing around, looking like idiots.

The group went back to the game, due to the Warlords yelling at the Ronins to "shut up and play." The group of three had the ball this time. Dais passed it to Kale, who avoided being tackled by Sai and Sage. He tossed it to Sekhmet right as Kento tackled him to the ground. Rowen ran after the Warlord of Venom, and leaped to take him down, but instead wound up being dragged along. Sage and Sai ran over to help their friend, but they, too, were dragged along as Sekhmet made his way to the end zone. When Kento joined them, Sekhmet was struggling to proceed forward.

Dais and Kale ran to his side, and slowed down to a walking pace. They began to laugh when he wouldn't hand them over the ball. Sekhmet wasn't about to give the Ronins the satisfaction of seeing him give up, so he slowly made his way to he to the goal line.

Mia and Kayura gathered all the food into their proper containers and began to put them away in the jeep. When they sat back down, Mia looked over at Ryo to see how he was doing. His eyes seemed to sparkle, like what he had told the others three days ago made him feel better.

Ryo felt eyes on him and turned to see Mia was looking at him. He always got nervous when people looked at him; so naturally, he began to blush.

Mia grinned as he began to blush under her stare. He was way too easy to embarrass half of the time. But at least he was back to his old self, again. "You-" she began, but stopped as huge black clouds filled the air, and thunder sounded all around them.

Ryo got to his feet as fast as he could when he, Mia, Yuli, and Kayura were surrounded by Soldiers like he'd faced during his capture. He quickly noticed the three armors had appeared near the other Ronins and Warlords, who instantly stopped their game and called upon their subarmors.

"Hello again, Ronins," Soylaberst greeted them. "I see Wildfire managed to live again. No matter, we'll see if we can fix that."

They quickly turned to see hundreds of Soldiers surrounding their leader.

"Go protect, Ryo. We'll handle these guys," Rowen ordered the Warlords, who hesitated before running to help Kayura. "Let's do this! Armo'ah of Strata!"

"Armor of Halo!"

"Armor of Torrent!"

"Armor of Hardrock!"

"Armor of Cruelty!"

"Armor of Corruption!"

"Armor of Illusion!"

"Armor of Venom!"

"Dao Chi!" they all shouted as one. Cherry blossoms filled the air as the armors formed around their respective barer.

"Are we supposed to be scared?" Zual mocked. "We were playing with you last time, but no more!"

"Then shut up and fight!" Kento snapped.

"As you wish," Soylaberst smiled and charged.

stststst

Whiteblaze stood in a guarding position in front of Ryo, who was being held back by Mia and Yuli. He watched the Warlords defeat the soldiers, but his friends needed his help. They were getting tossed around like rag dolls. Ryo was one to take an opportunity when it came along, so when Whiteblaze was distracted by a couple of Soldiers, he pushed Mai and Yuli away as he stepped forward and called upon his subarmor.

'Kaosu, please help me help them,' he thought. Ryo might have been one to do drastic things, but he wasn't stupid. He knew he wasn't in any condition to fight and would only get in the way, or get someone hurt. So being who he was, he decided to do the next best thing.

"Ryo, no! You can't go out there!" Mia pleaded as she grabbed his arm.

"Please, Ryo, stay here!" Yuli added, tears running down his cheeks. He stood by Whiteblaze, who, surprisingly, didn't make any move to stop his charge.

"I'm not going out there, Yuli. But I have to help them; they need Wildfire," Ryo said and removed Mia's hands from his arm.

He turned away from them and walked a couple steps towards the battle taking place. "Armor of Wildfire, Dao Jin!" he called. He felt the heat and safety the armor offered as it wrapped around him. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the center of his being. His armor began to glow and soon a red sphere surrounded him. He then began to concentrate on his friends, which caused the sphere to divide into four separate ones that shot towards their targets.

stststst

The four fighting boys began to worry that Soylaberst had placed another spell over them when their armors flashed red for an instant. They looked at their hands, then up at each other.

"What just happened?" Sai asked.

"I don't know, but I didn't feel anything," Sage offered.

"Me neither," Rowen agreed.

"Come on, Ronins! We're waiting!" Ky called to them from where he was standing by his comrades.

"Can it!" Kento shouted. "I'm sick of playing games. Iron…Rock…Crusher!" The sure kill erupted from the ground where his staff had landed, only Ryo's 'Flare Up Now' was whirled around it. "What the hell!" Kento demanded.

"It's Ryo's su'ah kill!" Rowen stated the obvious.

"The red glow, it was Ryo giving us his sure kill," Sage mused aloud.

"Then let's waste no time. Super…Wave…Smasher!" Sai yelled. Just like Kento's, Ryo's was wrapped around Sai's, and they hit their target.

"My turn! Arrow…Shock…Wave!" The three armors were thrown back into some trees, from Rowen's.

"Thunder…Bolt…Cut!" Sage called.

stststst

Mia and the Warlords watched as Ryo was zapped with each call his friends made, taking the young warrior down to his hands and knees. Sekhmet ran to Ryo's side, kneeling down once he was there. All the Soldiers had been destroyed, so he didn't have to worry about them.

"Stop this now, Wildfire! You're not strong enough! We'll help them," he shouted, then he and the others ran to help the Ronins.

Once again, Ryo divided his power between the four Warlords. They didn't stop, even when they flashed red; it was like they knew he was going to do it.

Sending his sure kill through them was the only thing he could do since they couldn't form the Inferno. They needed all the power they could get, and Ryo was willing to give them his.

He was zapped repeatedly as each of the Warlords called upon their sure kills. With Ryo's wrapped around them, the enemy was driven closer to defeat.

Mia watched as Ryo's armor began to fade in and out of existence, but the boy held on, refusing to let it go. Tears streamed down her face as she stood there, helplessly, as he endured the pain. She held Yuli back as he screamed for Ryo to stop, the words being drowned out by Ryo's, every time he was zapped.

stststst

"Winds of Ebony!" Zual cried out.

Most of the Ronins and Warlords managed to get out of the way. However, Rowen, Kale, and Sai were caught in the blast.

/Ryo/ Rowen thought.

/Rowen/

"Nani? Ryo?" he asked as he heard Ryo call his name; only it sounded like it was in his head, but that was impossible,…wasn't it?

/Use your sure kills at one time, guys. Do it now. I-I can't keep this up/ Ryo told them.

Rowen could now feel the presence of the others in his mind. He could also feel Ryo's pain, though he, himself, didn't hurt at all. /Are we using telepathy/

/Never mind that, Rowen; just do what he asks/ Sage thought to the blue-haired boy. Rowen could feel the others agreeing.

"Let's do it!" Sage shouted aloud. "Thunder…Bolt…Cut!"

"Arrow…Shock…Wave!"

"Super…Wave…Smasher!"

"Iron…Rock…Crusher!"

"Quake…With…Fear!"

"Black…Lightning…Slash!"

"Web…Of…Deception!"

"Snake…Fang…Strike!"

'Flare…Up…Now!'

All the sure kills, wrapped with Ryo's, mixed together and hit all three armors, which flew through the air. Once they hit the ground, all three armors vanished.

stststst

With one last scream of pain, Ryo fell to the ground unconscious. His armor vanished, along with his subarmor, leaving him in his street clothes.

"Ryo!" Mia exclaimed as she ran to his side. She gathered him in her arms, gently rocking back and forth, while stroking his hair.

"Is he okay, Mia?" Yuli asked as he knelt down.

"I don't know, Yuli," Mia said truthfully through her tears.

Whiteblaze joined them and nuzzled Ryo's limp hand. Part of him was angry with Ryo for doing this, but the other part of him understood it had to be done.

The other Ronins and Warlords ran over, shedding their armors as they came. They noticed Ryo's shirt had blood stains on its left side.

"What happened? How did he get like this?" Sai demanded.

"When he gave you his power," Kayura answered. "Every time you called upon your sure kills, he was zapped and weakened."

"You knew and didn't tell us!" Sage exclaimed.

"It had to be done, Halo. Wildfire knew that. We tried to get him to stop but he's too stubborn. When we went to aid you, he did the same thing to us, and I, for one, refuse to waste such a sacrifice," Sekhmet hissed.

Everyone fell into silence after that for a few minutes. During that time, Sage took Ryo from Mia and began to check him over for any other injuries.

"So what's up with the mind talking thingy?" Kento asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know, but I could feel y'all's presence stronger than before," Sai replied.

"I guess when Ryo used us to deliver his sure kill, it caused the mind link," Sage suggested.

"It's reas'nable," Rowen agreed.

/Do you really think that's what happened/

Sai was weirded out when Kento invaded his mind. /Yes, Kento. Now get out of my head/

/Well, it is kinda neat, if ya ask me/ Rowen joined in, since he had felt Kento ask the question earlier.

/I wonder if it works long distance/ Sage mused. He too had felt Kento's invasion.

/That'd be great! When we go back home, we won't have to use the phone anymore/ Kento exclaimed.

/And we'll know if anyone's hurt. Ah could feel Ryo's pain earli'ah, but Ah didn't hurt at all/ Rowen added.

/Bonus! We can ask Rowen questions on a test when school starts/

/Kento/ they all yelled when he started laughing. They could tell he was joking, though.

/Are you four done yet? We'd like to get Wildfire back into his bed/ Kale's voice penetrated through their minds.

"Excuse us, then," Kento snorted. "Do you think we'll ever learn how to block out anyone?"

The other boys just smiled at their friend's remark.

Sekhmet took Ryo from Sage and loaded him into the van. Dais, Kale, and Yuli road with Mia and Kayura in the jeep, while the others loaded up in the van. Whiteblaze ran along side the van all the way home.

Once they arrived, Sekhmet and Sai changed the bandage and got Ryo back in bed. They both noticed he was still fairly pale but not by much, and he had a slight fever which they gave him medicine for.

stststst

After everyone was in their respective rooms, Yuli snuck out of his and went to Ryo's. He quietly opened the door and peeked inside. Ryo was sleeping on his right side, and Whiteblaze was on the rug by the bed. The young boy walked in, dragging his blanket along, and shut the door behind him. He climbed onto the bed and curled up next to his hero. As Yuli pulled the blanket over his shoulders he whispered, "Be okay, Ryo." Then he fell into a deep slumber.

stststst

Late into the night, Sage decided that since he couldn't sleep he would go check up on his injured friend. He climbed out from under the warmth of his blankets, pulled on his robe, and made his way to the door. When he reached Ryo's room, he entered and sat down on the extra bed. Ryo's back was facing him, and Sage watched as the teen's side rose and fell with every breath.

'What are we going to do with you, Ryo?'he thought to himself. 'You can never not do anything, can you?'

Sage was brought out of his thoughts when Ryo turned onto his back and released a soft moan. The blond rose and went over, successfully avoiding the tiger on the floor, and stood by the bed. He studied his friend's features, trying to see if something was wrong- like another nightmare- but quickly dismissed all concerns of such when Ryo settled back down with a sigh. As Sage pulled the cover back up to Ryo's chest he noticed the younger boy sleeping soundly next to him. Smiling, the blond stroked Ryo's hair once before he turned and left the room.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

So how many times have I abused Ryo now? Hmm. Quite a few. But they're all good. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the last part in this fic. Sage is just so sweet when he wants to be. I just love him!


	10. The Final Battle

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Action! I repeat, Action is in this chapter! It might not be described very well but it's here. Let's just pray that it's our boys that kick butt and not the bad guys!

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 10: The Final Battle

A week and a half later, tiger blue eyes slowly made their way open. The owner of said eyes was still a little drained and tired, but he'd live. The young teen blinked until his eyes were adjusted to the light, then began to look around the room. He quickly noticed that two things were different. Whiteblaze had decided to take up residency at the foot of his bed, but the real shock was that the Warlord of Venom was standing at his window.

"Sekhmet? You okay?"

The Warlord turned to face the Ronin, who was still lying in the bed. The man in question was wearing black pants, a dark green shirt, and a black jacket. "You have them all worried, Wildfire." He walked over and sat down on the bed. "Your heart slowed down dramatically."

"Really?"

"Don't you think you're overdoing it?"

"I'm doing what I have to."

The Warlord looked into the boy's eyes, as if he was trying to find out some hidden secret. "We have something in common, you and I. Feeling helpless isn't all that great, is it?" Sekhmet almost smiled at the look that crossed the teens face. "But you're not helpless, Wildfire. I've watched you fight Talpa; I know what you're capable of. Hell, I've had you kick my ass more than I want to admit. But even the strongest of warriors needs to take it easy at times."

Ryo didn't say anything; instead, he looked down at the floor.

"I know you won't while we have an enemy but once this is over I want you to rest and stop pushing yourself. I'm not going to stop you from fighting. Believe it or not, Wildfire, but you're our leader as well. Our help is there if you need it; don't forget that," the Warlord added.

"Will you go back to the Nether Realm when this is over?" Ryo asked, looking back up.

"Until we're needed again."

A comfortable silence fell in the room for a few minutes, before Sekhmet decided to break it. "Soylaberst might be getting ready for another attack soon. Do you think you'll be ready?"

"I'll have to be; we'll need the Inferno."

"You're strong, Wildfire. Both in body and spirit; don't lose that," the Warlord said as he made his way to the door and opened it.

"I don't intend to."

Sekhmet nodded, then left the room, closing the door behind him. Ryo looked at the tiger, which was still sleeping at the foot of his bed, and shook his head. He reluctantly left the warmth of his blanket, and got dressed. He had to go slow, for his body still carried a dull pain, and he felt dizzy if he went too fast. The wound in his side was practically screaming at him, so Ryo figured he irritated it when he used his armor.

'That's the last time I give them my sure-kill,' he thought as he and Whiteblaze made their way to the living room. Ryo paused at the doorway, taking in the scene. Kento and Dais were sitting on the floor, playing one of Kento's fighting games for his Play Station. From Dais's reactions, Kento was kicking his arse. Rowen and Kale were playing chess at one of the small tables; and by Kale's face, Rowen was winning, which wasn't a big surprise. Sage, Sai, Sekhmet, and Yuli were playing some board game, which looked to be 'Sorry'. Mia and Kayura were sitting on the loveseat, watching the boys play the board game.

"Hey, guys," he said as he entered the room.

/Hey/ the Ronin and Warlords invaded his mind at once. Ryo grabbed his head and fell to his knees. He remembered the mind link now; his head feeling like someone had just set dynamite off inside of it. He felt Whiteblaze rub against his arm, and he reached out to scratch underneath the tiger's chin.

Sage was the first one to his side, bending down to check him over. "Are you alright, Ryo?" he asked, lifting Ryo's face up to look into his eyes.

Ryo gently shook his head, clearing out the fuzziness, and tried to focus on the group before him. "Yeah. Just not all at once next time," he smiled reassuringly.

"Sorry 'bout that, Buddy," Rowen chuckled, and helped Sage lift Ryo off the floor.

"Thanks, but I got it," Ryo said, gently pulling himself from their arms. He reached out and Whiteblaze fell into place by his side. The two sat down by the fireplace, with Ryo leaning against his companion.

"It's good to see you up and about, Wildfire. We were beginning to worry," Kale replied.

"How long was I out?"

"Almost two weeks," Sai offered.

"I thought you'd be out for a few more days, though," Kento said as he hammered away on his controller. "Yes! Kicked your ass again, Dais!"

Dais flung his controller to the floor. "That's it! I quit. I've had enough of this game."

"Come on, Dais. Can't take Hardrock's war tactics?" Kale laughed.

"Like you're one to talk!" Dais snapped.

Before they could continue, Ryo asked, "What of Soylaberst?"

Rowen and the others looked at him. "We don't know. They haven't attacked since ya lent us ya'ah su'ah-kill."

Ryo nodded at this, and looked at the floor. "We're going to have to use the Inferno," he said, telling them what he had already told Sekhmet.

"You can't, Wildfire! If you do, it'll kill you," Kayura disagreed.

"Saranbo said the same thing, and I'm still here," Ryo argued.

"Maybe so, but you've been through more than before, and with your side-" Kale began.

"My side isn't going to be changing any time soon. I'll have to fight with it like it is," Ryo said softly.

"What did Ky do it anyway?" Dais asked.

"Nani?" Ryo asked, looking up.

"You told us Ky did something to it, so what is it that he did?"

They all watched as Ryo looked at the floor again, and pulled into himself a little. It was like he was trying to keep the memories from flooding his mind, but it wasn't working.

"He poisoned it."

"How? Did he poke ya with a needle?" Rowen asked, shivering with the thought of a needle penetrating his skin.

"Made you swallow something?" Sage added.

"No, his hand. You know, with the green light," Kento suggested.

"That was for the anti-healing," Sai corrected.

"His tongue."

It was said so softly that they almost didn't hear him, but they did. They all turned to look at him, not sure if they heard him correctly.

"His…tongue?" Sekhmet asked disgusted. "What'd he do, lick it?"

"That was part of it," Ryo sighed, slightly blushing from the embarrassment of saying this. Whiteblaze rubbed against his arm, and purred, affectively giving Ryo the assurance he needed. "He put his tongue in there, and when he pulled out he said that he hoped I'd enjoy his gift. It won't heal; not at the normal rate anyway. So stop worrying about it, it's fine," Ryo added gently, looking up at them.

"I'm sorry, Wildfire," Sekhmet said sincerely. He noticed the others looking at him funny. "Yes, I can be sorry."

"In more ways than one!" Sai chirped.

Everyone got it except for the one being picked on, but Sekhmet just shook his head as if to say, 'I don't care.'

"I'm hungry," Kento announced.

"You just ate two hours ago!" Dais said. Even after all the time they've spent with the Ronins, the Warlords still couldn't believe Hardrock's appetite.

"And now I'm starving!" Kento snapped.

stststst

"You're better than I remember, Halo," Dais panted as he spared with the blond swordsman.

Sage didn't say anything, instead, gave a little smirk and lunged for the Warlord.

Ryo watched the two for some time, then, he and Whiteblaze, turned to see how the others were doing. Sai was holding his own against Kale, just as Kento was doing with Kayura, and Sekhmet had his hands full with Rowen. The Warlords quickly noted that since the defeat of Talpa, they weren't as strong as they use to be. They weren't really in touch with their virtues like the Ronins were. That was where the Ronins gained the advantage, even though they hadn't been fighting as long.

"We wanna play, too!" a voice mock whined.

The group turned around to see the three armors standing almost ten feet away. Zual was the one who made the comment, while the other two chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, Wildfire can be my partner," Ky added.

Whiteblaze growled, standing protectively in front of Ryo. Tiger blue eyes glared out from under black locks at the green armor. Ryo wasn't afraid of Ky; he hated him and the other two. They had hurt his friends, and for that, they would pay.

"I must warn you though, boy, you won't be able to touch me," Ky continued smiling.

"Why's that?" Ryo found himself asking.

The green armor just held up his index finger and winked. Ryo knew what that meant, but the others didn't. Ky's finger began to glow.

The others watched as Ryo clutched his side and fell to his hand and knees. Then Ky began to bend and twist his finger around in the air. As he did this, Ryo clenched his teeth tighter, refusing to scream out in pain. Ryo knew he had to do something. He could feel the wound being ripped open and Ky's finger moving around inside it. He was thankful that they were all in their subarmors, so the others wouldn't see the blood he knew was running down his side. His vision began to blur and he felt the darkness trying to take him under. Ryo held back the tears of pain, not willing to give Ky the satisfaction again.

Once he pushed the darkness away, his vision cleared and he looked up at Ky, who was still moving his finger around. Flames exploded Ryo's eyes, swirling around. With much effort, Ryo rose to his feet, stood up straight, and released his side.

"Enough games, Ky. Ronin Warriors to arms! Armor of Wildfire!"

"Armor of Halo!"

"Armor of Venom!"

"Armor of Corruption!"

"Armo'ah of Strata!"

"Armor of Hardrock!

"Armor of Torrent!"

"Armor of Illusion!"

"Armor of Cruelty!"

"Dao Chi!" they all shouted as one. Each armor appeared, under the falling cherry blossoms, on their respected wearers.

Ryo withdrew his katana's and stood in a defensive stance. The other Ronins and Warlords stood two of each on both sides, making Ryo the central figure; with a large white tiger standing protectively by his side.

"Bravo, Wildfire!" Soylaberst applauded.

"But what happens if I do this?" Ky asked, and his index finger began to crackle with electricity.

Ryo felt an electrical current sweep through his body and instead of releasing a scream of pain, he released one of anger. "This!" he shouted and leaped for the green armor.

Ky was shocked by this and hesitated. Ryo was in front of him, with one of his katana's raised, before he could do anything. The sword came down, in one quick motion, and sliced right through Ky's wrist. The armor screamed as his hand fell to his feet.

Ryo dodged Soylaberst's hands, as the armor attempted to grab him, and jumped back into formation with his friends.

"Why you little…You'll pay for that!" Zual shouted. "Winds of Ebony!" His sure-kill flew at the group, but they all managed to dodge it.

"Black…Lighting…Slash!"

"Snake…Fang…Strike!"

"Arrow…Shock…Wave!"

Zual was hit by all three, causing him to fly backwards several feet, and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Iron…Rock…Crusher!"

"Super…Wave…Smasher!"

"Quake…With…Fear!"

Kayura's chains wrapped around Ky, sending currents throughout his body and affectively holding him in place until the other two sure-kills hit him. He flew into a tree which broke in half from the pressure.

"Thunder…Bolt…Cut!"

"Web…Of…Deception!"

"Flare…Up…Now!"

Soylaberst smiled as the sure-kills hit him full force. He was pushed back twenty feet, forced down to a knee and fist but other than that he was unharmed. He looked up and glared at the red Ronin.

"That's all you have to offer? Ha! And here I thought Talpa had a worthy adversary but you're not worthy at all!" he laughed, standing up. He reached behind his back and withdrew a long, black sword. The hilt matched his armor, a dark blood-red with black fog, making it look like marble. The armor raised it above his head with one hand, while he pointed at Ryo with the other. "Fury Swipe!" he cried, bringing the sword down.

Everyone moved out of the way, except for Ryo, who continued to glare at the armor.

"Ryo, move out of the way!" Sage shouted in utter shock. 'What the hell is he trying to do? Get himself killed?'

/I can't. He's holding me here/ Ryo thought calmly to the group. "Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed as the sure-kill engulfed him, racking his body with pain. His body never budge an inch since Soylaberst was holding him there so he would have to take it all.

/Form th' Inferno/ Rowen thought to the others.

Dark blue, green, orange, and light blue sphere formed around Rowen, Sage, Kento, and Sai. The four boys released them and the beams shot towards the Ronin in the middle of Soylaberst's sure-kill.

Ryo felt the others' powers slam into him, and nothing else existed except for the Inferno coming to life. His Wildfire armor exploded and began to swirl around his body. His red and white subarmor changed into dark blue and black as the heat hit him. After the flames engulfed him, Ryo emerged with the white armor protecting his body. The armor for his arms and legs appeared next as he took a step back.

Ryo opened his and glared at his enemy.

Soylaberst looked upon the new armor with complete fascination. He never knew what it looked like, for he had only heard stories. He could feel the power it held, and the power yet to be called upon. The need to have such an armor consumed him.

"So that's how it is then. Well, two can play at that game. Ky! Zual! Join with me!"

Before anyone could make a move, the other two armors merged with Soylaberst, causing his armor to fade from the dark blood-red to pure black with white fog covering the surface. His claws grew nine inches on his left hand, while his right hand remained the same, holding onto the sword. A long blood-red cape dropped over his back, four horns grew out of his helmet, and spikes grew on top of his shoulders.

The new Soylaberst slowly approached the Ronin in white.

Blackblaze released a vicious roar and jumped over Ryo's right shoulder, landing nicely at the boy's left side. Ryo walked up and grabbed the Soul Sword's hilts and pulled them out of their cases which were on the tiger's back.

"Thanks, Blaze. Now get out of here. Go guard the others," he whispered. The tiger gave him a puzzled look with its golden-yellow eyes. "I'll be fine, boy. I just don't want you to get caught in the cross fire." He heard a low growl of disapproval followed by retreating footsteps.

"Now it seems fair, wouldn't you agree?" Soylaberst smiled. "You're not the only one's who can combine armors!" With that, the black armor leaped at the white armor. Ryo met him half way, locking swords. They both tried to push the other down. After a short struggle, Ryo finally pushed off and forced the other to retreat. "Nicely done but it won't save you," Soylaberst laughed.

"Why do the bad guys _always _say that?" Ryo snapped, irritably. He hit the hilts together, pulled them apart, and leaped into the air. "Rage…Of…Inferno!" Red and white flames sped from the Soul Swords towards their target.

Everyone watched as Soylaberst threw his arms wide, as if welcoming the sure-kill, and let the flames engulf him. Ryo landed back on the ground in time to see the black armor emerge unharmed.

"No…" he heard several of his friends gasp.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Soylaberst laughed. "That's all you've got? That's the 'Almighty Inferno'!"

Rage began to build inside Ryo. His blood boiled as he realized why his sure-kill hadn't worked. He, himself, wasn't at his normal power level. The armors had weakened him with the kidnapping, the hospital visit, and when he had given his sure-kill to his friends. They knew what they were doing, and it had worked. If only he could get more power. 'That's it,' he thought. He didn't have time to put his plan into action, though, for Soylaberst leaped at him and they locked swords again. The black armor quickly forced Ryo down to a knee.

/Guys? Can you hear me/ Ryo thought.

/Loud and clear, dude/ Kento answered first.

/Whadda ya need/ Rowen asked.

/More power/ Sage suggested.

/Yeah, but not from you guys/ Ryo said bluntly.

/Nani/ the other four Ronins exclaimed.

/We have to combine all nine. I need the Warlords to give me theirs/ Ryo explained.

/But _all_ nine could kill you/ Sekhmet hissed.

/Trust me! I have no intention of dying, Sekhmet. I know what I'm doing. You said you'd help us whenever we asked for it. Well, I'm asking now. Please, Sekhmet…Kale…Dais…Kayura…Help us defeat him/ Ryo pleaded.

The Warlords answered him with four more spheres of power, which raced towards the figure in white. Ryo shoved Soylaberst away and quickly rose to his full height. He stretched his arms out as the spheres surrounded his body. Once again, nothing else existed except for the power engulfing his body in the form of flames. When he emerged, there were armored wings sticking out of his back.

"You wanted to see how strong I am? Here's your answer!" Ryo leaped up into the air. "Rage…Of…"

"Fury…Swipe!"

"Inferno!" Ryo shouted and brought his katana's down.

Both sure-kills slammed into one another head on, neither giving the other any lead way. The two fighters continued to pour out more power, also not giving any lead-way to the other.

"The soul of virtue always wins!" Ryo shouted, releasing everything he had.

Soylaberst's eyes widened as he saw the Inferno's flame break through his own. He had nothing else to put out; all his power was already gone. The black armor was too shocked to think of escaping so he stood there, paralyzed as the sure-kill impaled his body and shot out of his back. He screamed of pure agony as he felt the flames spread through his body, burning his life away. Once the sure-kill passed through his body and disappeared into the clouds, Soylaberst dropped to his knees and dissolved into black dust, which quickly evaporated.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

There you go, guys! And NO we aren't done yet. If you missed it, Ky and Zual's bodies merged with Soylaberst, not just their powers. So the bad guys are gone. The next chapter will wrap up everything. There's someone we have yet to hear from. Can you guess who it is?


	11. Fast Recoveries and Goodbyes

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I think I should have made myself clearer on the who-have-we-still-got-to-hear-from person. It's not Anubis or Kaosu. But I'll give you a hint: there is a problem between this person and Ryo.

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 11: Fast Recoveries and Goodbyes

Ryo released the Inferno, sending the powers back to the others, and powered out of his Wildfire armor. He kept his subarmor, knowing his clothes were covered with blood. A wave of pain suddenly flooded his body and he fell to his hands and knees, crying out in pain.

The others ran towards him, but came to a halt as Ryo began to glow dark green. They watched silently as the glow separated from his body and evaporated. Ryo released another groan and fell to the ground, shedding his subarmor. He just didn't have the strength to keep it with him anymore.

Whiteblaze was the first one to his side. The large cat nuzzled his friend's face, pleading for him to wake up. The others powered down to their regular clothes as they finished running to their fallen friend's side. Their leader stirred and turned over onto his back. The group quickly noticed Ryo's left side, from the wound down, was soaked in blood.

Ryo sat up, with great effort, and hugged the tiger that insisted upon it. Whiteblaze wrapped his arm around the boy's back, returning the embrace, as well as helping to hold him up.

"You okay, Ryo?" Sai asked as he knelt down and put a hand on his friends shoulder.

Ryo turned his head away from the tiger's neck and gave them a small smile. "Yeah. Just an overload, that's all."

"What was that green light?" Dais asked.

"Ky's gone. I guess so is his 'no healing' power. It was that way with Soylaberst, when he blocked my armor. Once he died, the first time, I could call upon my armor again. So maybe that was it," Ryo suggested slowly.

Sage gently moved Sai away from Ryo then knelt down next to his friend. He didn't say anything as he placed one hand on Ryo's bruised cheek and the other on the wound in his left side. Pale violet eyes locked on tiger blue ones as a soft green glow surrounded Ryo. A few seconds passed, no one saying anything, just watching what was going on. They knew Sage was using his healing power, and they were ecstatic when Ryo didn't cry out in pain like he had at the hospital.

The glow stopped but the blond didn't remove his hands from Ryo's body. He sat there waiting for some reaction from the raven headed boy.

"Arigato, Sage," Ryo whispered and placed his own hand over Sage's and closed his eyes.

"No need, Ryo," Sage smiled.

Yuli ran over to Ryo and threw his arms around his hero's neck. Sage stepped back, letting Ryo greet the little boy as well. The eight year old didn't cry. He just wanted to let his hero know he was glad that he was alive. Ryo patted Yuli's arm to show he acknowledged the younger boy. Whiteblaze released his embrace and backed away; Yuli did the same.

"Are you alright, Wildfire?" Kale asked.

"…Yeah. I just…feel a little funny," Ryo shrugged.

Before he could object, Sage and Kento gently pulled Ryo off the ground. They put his arms around each of their necks. Kento was careful with where his arm went. He was on Ryo's right, so his arm was going around to the left side. Sage was careful not to bump up against his side; for even though he had healed all of Ryo's wounds, internal and external, he knew that Ryo's body was still swore and weak from what it was put through.

Ryo looked at the Warlords. "Thanks for the help."

"It was our honor," Kayura smiled.

"Now just imagine if you had been at full strength," Dais said.

"He wouldn't have lasted two seconds. And talk about a fire show!" Kale laughed.

"And not to mention the new wings," Dais reminded.

"Now those were cool," Sai agreed.

"Forget cool, they were awesome!" Kento exclaimed.

"Ah wish Ah had a pa'ah."

"You can fly without them, Rowen," Sage replied.

"Ah know. But they'd look great wif my arm'ah!" Rowen whined.

"Hey, we beat them. That's all that matters," Ryo reminded them. He didn't really know what the armor looked like with the added power, but it didn't really matter to him if he did or not.

"What's with the 'we'? You're the one who took them down," Sekhmet said harshly.

Ryo shook his head. "I couldn't have done it without you guys. I may wear the Inferno, but it takes all of us to make it."

The others smiled at his modesty. Not very many people had that quality nowadays. Ryo would shoulder the blame for mistakes, but he would share the praise for victories.

"Okay, Ryo," Rowen said as he walked over. "Let's go get ya cleaned up and int' bed."

Sage and Kento helped him to the house and up the stairs. All Ryo wanted to do was pass out, but he saved it for later. He wanted to take a shower on his own. All the other times he had been out of it and he wasn't comfortable with people seeing him naked; not to mention touching him while he was naked. Luckily, the Warlords hadn't said anything to him about it. They had dropped it, so Ryo decided he would do the same.

He grabbed a new pair of boxers and his bed clothes. With some help from Kento, he made his way to the bathroom.

"You know the rules," Sage said before Ryo walked through the door with Whiteblaze.

"Door goes unlocked. If I need help, call. You'll be right outside. I got it," Ryo said as if he had heard it a thousand times. "Can I go in now?"

Sage nodded, stepping to the side. Whiteblaze entered and settled down on the rug. Ryo was right behind him and closed the door. He could hear his two friends lean against the wall; one on each side of the door. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of them folding their arms over their chest, while looking serious.

Ryo made his way over to the shower and turned on the hot water. When it got too hot, he added the cold to it to make it the right temperature. He removed his clothing and got in. He wanted to fall asleep under the warm water but decided against it. He washed his hair first, for it only made since to do so. Then he got all the blood off, and washed the rest of his body.

He could only imagine how he would feel if he had been at full strength when he'd asked the Warlords to help. It would have been way too much. His muscles already hurt enough; they were basically demanding for him to go to bed. He promised he would but first he wanted to find out what the Warlords were going to do now that the threat was over.

Whiteblaze had turned away when Ryo was getting undressed and stayed that way as the boy had climbed into the shower. Then he turned so he would be in a position to help if he was needed. When the water was turned off, he watched as Ryo's arm came out from behind the curtain, only to retreat once it had two towels in hand. The tiger, then, watched as Ryo exited the shower, a towel around his waist, and another draped over his damp hair.

Ryo made his way to the sink. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and quickly noted how exhausted he appeared. His armor had given him some strength back, but the overload took most of it away. He figured he'd sleep for two or three weeks at the most. One week wouldn't get it. He finished toweling his hair and threw the towel into the hamper. Then he removed the towel from his waist, threw it into the hamper, put on his clothes, and brushed the tangles out of his hair.

"Come on, Blaze," he said as he made his way to the door.

Ryo opened the door and stepped out. He leaned on Whiteblaze as they headed for his room. Kento and Sage joined him, following only a few feet behind him.

When Ryo entered his room, he found Sai and Rowen, who were talking, sitting on the unused bed; Mia on the floor by the said bed; Yuli sitting beside her. Kento took Ryo from Whiteblaze and helped him into the bed. The tiger curled up on the floor in its usual spot and began to watch the others in the room.

"Ya like you'ah bath, Buddy?" Rowen asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to fall asleep, though," Ryo answered truthfully. He noticed all the worried looks the others were sending each other and decided to put a stop to those thoughts. "I'm fine you guys; just tired."

"Well, you've earned it," Sage said as he sat down on the bed next to him. "Besides, your body still needs to gain its strength back. I just closed and healed the wounds."

"I know. Arigato."

"You've said that already," a voice came from the door.

The eight occupants of the room turned towards the door as one. All four Warlords were present, and each had a duffle bag in hand.

"You're leaving?" Ryo asked with a bit of disappointment.

"Yes, Wildfire. We need to be getting back," Kayura replied. "But we'll see you again."

"Great," Kento sarcastically said. "Well, Dais, I guess I'll just have to wait till next time to see if you can beat me at that video game."

"I don't think so, Hardrock. After getting my ass kicked for three weeks? No thank you. Next time, you can play with Kale," Dais answered.

"Don't go offering me to play his silly games. I still have to beat Strata at chess," Kale snapped.

"Never happen, Kale. Rowen always wins," Sage informed him.

"He can't win all the time!"

"Try telling him that," Sai chuckled.

"Can Ah help it if ya guys suck?" Rowen teased.

"One day, Strata. One day," Kale warned playfully.

Sekhmet stepped over to Ryo and extended his hand. Ryo took it without hesitation and smiled. "It was an honor, Wildfire. If you ever need our help, just let us know," he said. "And don't forget your promise; try to take it easy."

"Take care of yourselves. And let us know if you need anything," Ryo said and released the other's hand.

"We will," Kayura answered. "And thank you for trusting us."

"Think nothin' of it, Kayura," Rowen said.

"You guys turned out to be very useful," Sai added.

"Maybe next time you can paint the house," Kento laughed.

"You wish, Hardrock," Sekhmet hissed.

"Thanks again, Ronins," Kale said.

The Ronin Warriors nodded and watched as the Warlords disappeared.

"I'm gonna miss them," Kento sighed.

"Why?" Sai asked incredulously, not believing his best friend would ever say such a thing.

"Dais was so easy to beat on that game. It was fun watching him throw a fit."

The others in the room laughed at the memory. Dais was so easily angered by that game. His little tantrums were fun to watch, and the best part was that even though he said he quit, he would still reach for the controller, and go at it again.

Rowen looked over at Ryo and noticed his friend's head was turned away from them, facing the wall. His chest was slowly rising and falling, indicating that he was fast asleep. "Hey guys, looks like our fe'ahless lead'ah's decided t' take a nap."

The others grew quiet and looked over to the occupant of the bed. Sage stood up from the bed and pulled the covers up to Ryo's chest. "Let's leave him alone so he can rest," he whispered softly. The others nodded and they all left the room.

stststst

At twelve o'clock that night, Sage went to check on Ryo. The blond smiled at the scene laid out before him. Ryo was on his stomach, his shirt was on the floor, his arms were under his pillow, and his face was turned towards the wall. The blanket was bunched up around his waist, and his right leg was exposed. Ryo looked to be tense as Sage moved closer. Every now-and-then Ryo would move like he had a swore muscle. It pained the blond to see his friend like this and he quickly made a decision.

First, he unbent the boy's right leg, and covered it up again. Then he sat down on the bed and began to massage the copper colored back. He found the knots and gently smoothed them out. He smiled when Ryo let out a soft moan of relief.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this, Ryo," he whispered.

"Sounds like it t' me," came a voice from the door.

Sage's hands stilled as he turned and saw Rowen lent up against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. The blue-haired boy smiled and walked over to the other bed and took a seat on it. Sage returned the smile and continued massaging Ryo's back. The two friends almost laughed when Ryo shifted, turning his head away from the wall and bending his right leg again and released a loud moan.

"Ah'd say ya'ah doin' somethin' right, Sage. He looks more relaxed now."

"He has quit a few knots, but I'm working them out."

Rowen chuckled, making the blond give him a questioning look. "It's a good thin' Ryo taught ya how t' do that," he said, gesturing to the massaging.

Sage just nodded in response, and continued to work his hands over Ryo's back.

stststst

Knock. Knock

The five teenagers looked at each other from their places on the couch. They knew Mia was in town getting dinner and dropping Yuli off, and that she wouldn't be back for a few hours, since she'd left only thirty-six minutes ago. Besides, she had a key; why would she knock?

Rowen got up from his spot on the couch, where he'd been using Ryo for a pillow, while Ryo was using Sage's shoulder for a pillow. It had been a few days since the defeat of the three armors, and the guys had finally let Ryo out of bed; only to be placed on the couch, watching a movie.

The others turned back to the television, letting Rowen handle the person at the door. When they heard voices moving towards their room, Kento turned off the movie and put the television on mute. Sage glared at the larger boy, but Kento ignored it.

"Yeah, he's he'ah," Rowen's voice filtered through the door.

"Can I see him?" At the sound of the voice, Ryo sat up and looked at the door. "If Ryo's here, I need to see him." Ryo stood up and made his way to the door. Sage, Whiteblaze, and the other two boys followed; their curiosity getting the better of them. Ryo opened the door and stepped out. The man Rowen was talking to looked up and stopped before he could voice his next sentence.

"Dad?"

"Ryo," Aoi said as he walked passed the blue-haired boy. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner. It took them forever just to contact me. Then I couldn't get a flight to get here. Then when I did, the stupid plane had problems and we had to wait for it to be repaired. And then, when I finally got here I had to find the hospital you were placed in. There I was told you were staying with a Mia Kojo, and I had to find her address. I got lost on the way, and –"

"It's okay, Dad," Ryo smiled. He stepped forward so the boys behind him could file out. As he hugged his father, he remembered what Soylaberst had tried to make him believe. If his father didn't love him, he wouldn't have been here now. He would have just paid the bill and sent a letter. But he was here, and it proved that he did care.

Aoi gathered his son in his arms, holding him tight. Then he pushed the boy back a ways and looked him over. "You don't look too bad. The way they sounded over the phone, I thought you were near death!"

"I'm fine. Besides, the guys have helped out a lot," Ryo smiled at his father. It wasn't a lie; it was just avoiding the answer. There was no point in telling his father that he'd died, several times. Or what really happened, because he didn't know about the Dynasty; or anything related to it.

"Thank you, boys. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been here for him."

"Don't worry about. You might not think that once you see our bill."

"KENTO!" the other boys shouted in unison before they started laughing.

Owari

xyxyxyxy

I hope you guys liked it. I had a lot of fun writing it…Even though it took a long time to get it out. Ja'ne!


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